President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order aimed at guiding the development of artificial intelligence (AI).
The order will require industry to develop safety and security standards, introduce consumer protections, and give federal agencies oversight over AI technology.
The order reflects the government’s effort to maximize the benefits of AI while containing its potential risks. (Trending: Joe Biden Historic Take Down of Guns)
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said, “We can’t move at a normal government pace. We have to move as fast, if not faster than the technology itself.”
It builds on voluntary commitments made by technology companies and includes measures such as sharing safety test results, creating standards for AI tools, labeling AI-generated content, and addressing matters of privacy, civil rights, consumer protections, scientific research, and worker rights.
“He was as impressed and alarmed as anyone,” deputy White House chief of staff Bruce Reed said about Biden in an interview.
“He saw fake AI images of himself, of his dog. He saw how it can make bad poetry. And he’s 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.”
The order will be implemented over a range of 90 days to 365 days.
The U.S. aims to establish its own guidelines as countries around the world race to regulate AI technology. (Trending: Donald Trump Is A ‘Cockroach’ That Just Won’t Go Away)
“If he hadn’t already been concerned about what could go wrong with AI before that movie, he saw plenty more to worry about,” said Reed about Biden watching “Mission Impossible,” which involved AI development.
Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a former Biden administration official who helped craft principles for approaching AI, said, “These are all places where we know that the use of automation is very problematic, with facial recognition, drone technology.”