President Joe Biden is attacking artificial intelligence head-on, announcing an executive order that will address several concerns the U.S. and other nations have about the technology.
In the sweeping executive order announced on Monday, AI developers will be required to share the results of their safety tests with the federal government before the systems are released to the public.
The order will compel companies to notify the federal government if the AI model they are developing poses a national security, economic, or health risk.
The action will also ease immigration barriers for those who are skilled in critical areas of AI, allowing them to study and stay in the U.S.; establish standards that prevent AI production of dangerous biological materials; and develop best practices that minimize the risk of AI displacing human workers.
Other actions the order will take include creating protocols for government use of AI and creating safety standards and measures to help agencies acquire new technology that could cut costs while boosting efficiency.
When it comes to concerns about fraud, the order will also direct the Commerce Department to develop guidance for watermarking AI-generated content.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients spoke about the executive order in a statement on Monday, saying that this action was necessary.
“Given the pace of this technology, we can’t move in normal government or private-sector pace, we have to move fast, really fast – ideally faster than the technology itself,” Zients said. “You have to continue to be proactive, anticipate where things are headed, continue to act fast, and pull every lever we can.”
Biden is set to unveil the executive order at an event on Monday.
This is not the first time that the president has addressed AI and the growing concerns that many have about the technology. This executive order builds off the voluntary commitments that 15 major tech companies made this year, CNN reported.
Biden met with tech executives at the White House in July to discuss the rapid advancement of AI, saying then that they needed to be aware of potential concerns.
“We must be clear-eyed and vigilant about the threats … of emerging technologies that can pose – don’t have to, but can pose – to our democracy and our values,” Biden said in July.
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