The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is asking for your help. The Biden-Harris Administration is developing a National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy that will chart a path for the United States to harness the benefits and mitigate the risks of AI. This strategy will build on the actions that the Federal Government has already taken to responsibly advance the development and use of AI. To inform this strategy, OSTP requests public comments to help update U.S. national priorities and future actions on AI. Interested individuals and organizations are invited to submit comments by 5:00 p.m. ET on July 7, 2023.
I hope you’ll take the time to read and respond to the full request for information, but if not, here are the 29 questions the Administration hopes you will help them answer. If you haven’t had time to think through the component parts of a national AI strategy, just reading these questions will help you frame the issue. That said, I would strongly encourage you to submit your comments.
Protecting rights, safety, and national security
1. What specific measures – such as standards, regulations, investments, and improved trust and safety practices – are needed to ensure that AI systems are designed, developed, and deployed in a manner that protects people’s rights and safety? Which specific entities should develop and implement these measures?
2. How can the principles and practices for identifying and mitigating risks from AI, as outlined in the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and the AI Risk Management Framework, be leveraged most effectively to tackle harms posed by the development and use of specific types of AI systems, such as large language models?
3. Are there forms of voluntary or mandatory oversight of AI systems that would help mitigate risk? Can inspiration be drawn from analogous or instructive models of risk management in other sectors, such as laws and policies that promote oversight through registration, incentives, certification, or licensing?
4. What are the national security benefits associated with AI? What can be done to maximize those benefits?
5. How can AI, including large language models, be used to generate and maintain more secure software and hardware, including software code incorporating best practices in design, coding and post deployment vulnerabilities?
6. How can AI rapidly identify cyber vulnerabilities in existing critical infrastructure systems and accelerate addressing them?
7. What are the national security risks associated with AI? What can be done to mitigate these risks?
8. How does AI affect the United States’ commitment to cut greenhouse gases by 50-52% by 2030, and the Administration’s objective of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050? How does it affect other aspects of environmental quality?
Advancing equity and strengthening civil rights
9. What are the opportunities for AI to enhance equity and how can these be fostered? For example, what are the potential benefits for AI in enabling broadened prosperity, expanding economic and educational opportunity, increasing access to services, and advancing civil rights?
10. What are the unique considerations for understanding the impacts of AI systems on underserved communities and particular groups, such as minors and people with disabilities? Are there additional considerations and safeguards that are important for preventing barriers to using these systems and protecting the rights and safety of these groups?
11. How can the United States work with international partners, including low- and middle income countries, to ensure that AI advances democratic values and to ensure that potential harms from AI do not disproportionately fall on global populations that have been historically underserved?
12. What additional considerations or measures are needed to assure that AI mitigates algorithmic discrimination, advances equal opportunity, and promotes positive outcomes for all, especially when developed and used in specific domains (e.g., in health and human services, in hiring and employment practices, in transportation)?
13. How might existing laws and policies be updated to account for inequitable impacts from AI systems? For example, how might existing laws and policies be updated to account for the use of generative AI to create and disseminate non-consensual, sexualized content?
Bolstering democracy and civic participation
14. How can AI be used to strengthen civic engagement and improve interactions between people and their government?
15. What are the key challenges posed to democracy by AI systems? How should the United States address the challenges that AI-generated content poses to the information ecosystem, education, electoral process, participatory policymaking, and other key aspects of democracy?
16. What steps can the United States take to ensure that all individuals are equipped to interact with AI systems in their professional, personal, and civic lives?
Promoting economic growth and good jobs
17. What will the principal benefits of AI be for the people of the United States? How can the United States best capture the benefits of AI across the economy, in domains such as education, health, and transportation? How can AI be harnessed to improve consumer access to and reduce costs associated with products and services? How can AI be used to increase competition and lower barriers to entry across the economy?
18. How can the United States harness AI to improve the productivity and capabilities of American workers, while mitigating harmful impacts on workers?
19. What specific measures – such as sector-specific policies, standards, and regulations – are needed to promote innovation, economic growth, competition, job creation, and a beneficial integration of advanced AI systems into everyday life for all Americans? Which specific entities should develop and implement these measures?
20. What are potential harms and tradeoffs that might come from leveraging AI across the economy? How can the United States promote quality of jobs, protect workers, and prepare for labor market disruptions that might arise from the broader deployment of AI in the economy?
21. What are the global labor force implications of AI across economies, and what role can the United States play in ensuring workforce stability in other nations, including low and middle-income countries?
22. What new job opportunities will AI create? What measures should be taken to strengthen the AI workforce, to ensure that Americans from all backgrounds and regions have opportunities to pursue careers in AI, and otherwise to prepare American workers for jobs augmented or affected by AI?
23. How can the United States ensure adequate competition in the marketplace for advanced AI systems?
Innovating in public services
24. How can the Federal Government effectively and responsibly leverage AI to improve Federal services and missions? What are the highest priority and most cost-effective ways to do so?
25. How can Federal agencies use shared pools of resources, expertise, and lessons learned to better leverage AI in government?
26. How can the Federal Government work with the private sector to ensure that procured AI systems include protections to safeguard people’s rights and safety?
27. What unique opportunities and risks would be presented by integrating recent advances in generative AI into Federal Government services and operations?
28. What can state, Tribal, local, and territorial governments do to effectively and responsibly leverage AI to improve their public services, and what can the Federal Government do to support this work?
Additional input
29. Do you have any other comments that you would like to provide to inform the National AI Strategy that are not covered by the questions above?
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions.