The White House’s new AI guidance provides a solid framework for safely using the technology, but to better harness AI’s national security potential, we need to improve the infrastructure that enables it. more investment is needed, the Department of Defense and industry leaders said this week.
President Biden on Thursday announced a first-of-its-kind memorandum aimed at providing guidance to national security and intelligence agencies on how to use AI effectively and responsibly to advance U.S. interests. announced.
“For the U.S. government to work with industry, civil society, and academia at a responsible pace to harness AI capabilities for national security missions and ensure the safety, security, and reliability of U.S. AI. “If we do not act, our innovations will be large-scale and we risk losing ground to strategic competitors,” the document states.
Alex Miller, chief technology officer to the Army Chief of Staff, said he appreciates the White House’s leadership on this issue, but said the lack of access and funding for core enabling technologies, such as cloud storage and computing power, makes the Defense He said he was concerned that the development of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications was being delayed. Integration of departmental AI tools.
“All the infrastructure work to set up the core technology to run AI at scale is still not done,” Miller told the Military Reporters and Editors Conference. “If we are really serious about it, we should be investing more at the national level.”
Matt Steckman, Anduril’s chief revenue officer, advocated a stronger national push to ensure the U.S. leads competitors like China in AI adoption.
“We need a national response,” said Steckman, who joined Miller on the panel. “I hope this memo is a start, but I want to go even further to get ahead of others as soon as possible.”
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan acknowledged in a Thursday briefing that there are “significant gaps” in AI research and development funding. He said the Biden administration will work closely with Congress to increase funding for innovation, along with other requirements in the memo.
“We received strong bipartisan signals of support for this from the Hill,” he said. “It’s time to come together, bicameral, bipartisan, to get this done.”
Building trust
Throughout the document, the White House emphasized the importance of building a level of trust in artificial intelligence and urged national security to put guardrails in place to ensure compliance with civil rights, human rights, privacy, and security laws. I’m asking the institution.
Organizations leveraging AI must use it in a way that is consistent with “democratic values,” the document says.
This means that government agencies can designate trusted sources for AI-related inquiries, invest in employee training, create standards for evaluating the safety of AI tools, and ensure that systems support fairness, civil rights, and consumer protection. This means making sure you are compliant with federal laws regarding.
“Artificial intelligence holds extraordinary potential for both promise and danger,” the memo said. “Responsible use of AI has the potential to help solve urgent challenges while making our world richer, more productive, more innovative, and safer. At the same time, irresponsible use can exacerbate social harms such as fraud, discrimination, prejudice, and disinformation.”
The document calls for extensive analysis related to developing a strong AI talent pool, assessing the competitiveness of U.S. private sector AI companies, and understanding existing barriers to establishing a major AI infrastructure.
It provides the Director of National Intelligence with a regularly updated plan to work with the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to identify “critical nodes” in the AI supply chain and reduce risks to those areas. is instructed to create.
The Department of Defense and intelligence agencies also undertake work with a wide range of responsibilities, from establishing metrics to assess AI safety and effectiveness to accelerating AI acquisition efforts and ensuring a competitive AI industrial base for the United States. A subcommittee should be established.
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has been covering the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. She reported on some of the Department of Defense’s most important acquisition, budget, and policy challenges.
Riley Cedar is an editor at Military Times, where she covers breaking news, criminal justice and humanitarian stories. He previously worked as an investigative intern at The Washington Post and contributed to the ongoing Badge Abuse investigation.
