From now on, all US federal agencies must have a senior official overseeing all AI systems they use, as the government wants to ensure that the use of AI in public service remains safe. Another move by Biden regarding AI regulation.
Vice President Kamala Harris announced the new guidelines from the OMB in a briefing with journalists and said that agencies must also establish AI governance councils to coordinate how AI is used within the agency.
Agencies will also have to submit an annual report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) listing all the AI systems they use, the associated risks, and how they plan to mitigate them.
What is it and what is Biden looking for with federal AI regulators
“We have instructed all federal agencies to designate an AI responsible with the expertise, knowledge, and authority to oversee all AI technologies used by that agency, and this is to ensure that AI is used responsibly, understanding that we must have high-level leaders in our government who are specifically tasked with overseeing the adoption and use of AI,” Harris told journalists.
The Director of Artificial Intelligence does not have to be a political position, although it depends on the structure of the federal agency. The governing bodies must be created before the summer.
This directive expands on the policies previously announced in the Biden Administration’s executive order on AI, which required federal offices to create safety standards and increase the number of AI talents working in the government.
Some organizations have started hiring AI chiefs even before today’s announcement. The Department of Justice announced in February the appointment of Jonathan Mayer as its first CAIO. He will lead a team of cybersecurity experts to figure out how to use AI in law enforcement.
The US Government plans to hire 100 AI professionals by the summer, according to OMB President Shalanda Young.
Part of the responsibility of AI managers and governance committees is to regularly monitor their AI systems. According to Young, organizations must provide an inventory of the AI products they use.
Agencies also have to independently assess the security risk of each AI platform they use.
According to the new guidelines, all government-owned AI models, codes, and data must be made public unless they pose a risk to government operations.
The United States still does not have laws regulating AI. The executive order on AI provides guidelines to government agencies dependent on the executive power on how to address the technology. Although several bills regulating some aspects of AI have been introduced, there has not been much movement to legislate AI technologies.
