In the past few years, the presence of artificial intelligence has boomed in the workforce with little to no formal regulation directly addressing its impact. This week, President Biden signed a broad executive order aiming to provide a framework for protecting consumers and workers from the potential downsides presented by artificial intelligence. Although not as far-reaching or effective as a potential congressional action on the matter could be, the Executive Order called on federal agencies and AI vendors to prioritize and improve privacy and civil rights protection while this fast-growing field develops. Agencies are directed to contemplate where and how existing guidelines and regulations are applicable to AI in the absence of federal legislation on the matter. Simultaneously, the Order also discussed ways in which the technology could be utilized and assimilated into the existing workforce.
There are a few Department directives of note:
- The Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology must put in place standards for proactive hacking prevention called "red team testing" for any companies working on models which could effect/risk national interests of security, economy, or public health.
- The Department of Homeland Security will is required to establish an AI Safety and Security Board to confirm that AI systems are not unsafe before being revealed to the public.
- Within 180 days of the Order, the Department of Justice must issue a request for potential updates on the E-Government Act of 2002, with an eye towards improving federal agencies' privacy impact assessments to incorporate potential risks posed by AI.
The Order, more than 100 pages, is a comprehensive first step to integrating this technology into the regulatory scheme of the American legal system, and will hopefully be followed up in time with Congressional legislation to fill in the gaps of this framework as lawyers attempt to reconcile the now unavoidable presence in AI in most American industries, including our own.
The full text of the Order can be read here.
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