{"id":33537,"date":"2023-10-30T12:59:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T12:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/30\/biden-seeks-to-move-quickly-on-ai-safeguards-with-executive-order\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:48:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:48:48","slug":"biden-seeks-to-move-quickly-on-ai-safeguards-with-executive-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/artificial-intelligence\/2023\/10\/30\/biden-seeks-to-move-quickly-on-ai-safeguards-with-executive-order\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden seeks to move quickly on AI safeguards with executive order"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

President Joe Biden<\/a> on Monday will sign a sweeping executive order to guide the development of artificial intelligence<\/a> \u2014 requiring industry to develop safety and security standards, introducing new consumer protections and giving federal agencies an extensive to-do list to oversee the rapidly progressing technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order reflects the government\u2019s effort to shape how AI evolves in a way that can maximize its possibilities and contain its perils. AI has been a source of deep personal interest<\/a> for Biden, with its potential to affect the economy and national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients recalled Biden giving his staff a directive to move with urgency on the issue, having considered the technology a top priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FILE – White House chief of staff Jeff Zients listens during a meeting with President Joe Biden’s “Investing in America Cabinet,” in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, May 5, 2023, in Washington. Biden on Monday, Oct. 30, will sign a sweeping executive order to guide the development of artificial intelligence. Zients recalled Biden giving his staff a simple directive to move with urgency on the issue, having considered the technology a top priority. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t move at a normal government pace,\u201d Zients said the Democratic president told him. \u201cWe have to move as fast, if not faster than the technology itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Biden\u2019s view, the government was late to address the risks of social media and now U.S. youth are grappling with related mental health issues. AI has the positive ability to accelerate cancer research, model the impacts of climate change, boost economic output and improve government services among other benefits. But it could also warp basic notions of truth with false images, deepen racial and social inequalities and provide a tool to scammers and criminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order builds on voluntary commitments<\/a> already made by technology companies. It\u2019s part of a broader strategy that administration officials say also includes congressional legislation and international diplomacy, a sign of the disruptions already caused by the introduction of new AI tools such as ChatGPT that can generate new text, images and sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the Defense Production Act, the order will require leading AI developers to share safety test results and other information with the government. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is to create standards to ensure AI tools are safe and secure before public release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commerce Department is to issue guidance to label and watermark AI-generated content to help differentiate between authentic interactions and those generated by software. The order also touches on matters of privacy, civil rights, consumer protections, scientific research and worker rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An administration official who previewed the order on a Sunday call with reporters said the to-do lists within the order will be implemented and fulfilled over the range of 90 days to 365 days, with the safety and security items facing the earliest deadlines. The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, as required by the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Thursday, Biden gathered his aides in the Oval Office to review and finalize the executive order, a 30-minute meeting that stretched to 70 minutes, despite other pressing matters including the mass shooting in Maine, the Israel-Hamas war and the selection of a new House speaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden was profoundly curious about the technology in the months of meetings that led up to drafting the order. His science advisory council focused on AI at two meetings and his Cabinet discussed it at two meetings. The president also pressed tech executives and civil society advocates about the technology\u2019s capabilities at multiple gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was as impressed and alarmed as anyone,\u201d deputy White House chief of staff Bruce Reed said in an interview. \u201cHe saw fake AI images of himself, of his dog. He saw how it can make bad poetry. And he\u2019s seen and heard the incredible and terrifying technology of voice cloning, which can take three seconds of your voice and turn it into an entire fake conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The possibility of false images and sounds led the president to prioritize the labeling and watermarking of anything produced by AI. Biden also wanted to thwart the risk of older Americans getting a phone call from someone who sounded like a loved one, only to be scammed by an AI tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meetings could go beyond schedule, with Biden telling civil society advocates in a ballroom of San Francisco\u2019s Fairmont Hotel in June: \u201cThis is important. Take as long as you need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t