President Biden signed the administration’s much-anticipated artificial intelligence (AI) executive order (EO) on Monday, drawing strong initial reviews from both Federal and industry experts who applauded the order’s focus on seizing the promise and managing the risk of the emerging technology.
The EO establishes new standards for AI in eight categories including: safety and security; privacy; equity and civil rights; supporting consumers and workers; innovation and competition; American leadership; and government use of AI.
The sweeping order unveiled this week also issues major policy marching orders to no less than seven Federal agencies for specific follow-up work and calls on Congress to approve legislation on data privacy and other AI-related topics.
“President Biden is rolling out the strongest set of actions any government in the world has ever taken on AI safety, security, and trust,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed said. “It’s the next step in an aggressive strategy to do everything on all fronts to harness the benefits of AI and mitigate the risks.”
The AI EO builds on work the Biden-Harris administration has already accomplished in this field – from the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights to the voluntary commitments from big tech CEOs – and tasks Federal agencies as well as the private sector with initiatives to promote safe, secure, and trustworthy AI.
Feds, Industry Applaud
“This crucial Executive Order on AI is another important example of how the Biden-Harris Administration is leading the way in responsibly using emerging technologies to benefit the American people,” General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Robin Carnahan said. “GSA is proud to play key roles in supporting this Executive Order to help ensure the federal government leads the way in the responsible, effective use of AI.”
Ann Lewis, director of GSA’s Technology Transformation Services, added: “We are excited to support this executive order as it is taking important steps to promote the powerful and responsible use of AI in GSA’s programs and across the federal government. Through the EO, we will build on GSA’s work in AI, including our AI Center of Excellence which will continue to work with agencies to help them understand and responsibly implement AI to support a great digital experience for the public.”
“Our FedRAMP program, which ensures cloud services used by the government are secure, will establish strategies to ensure that cloud-based AI products are prioritized into the authorization path so that agencies have the tools they need to more effectively serve the public,” she said.
Former U.S. Federal Chief Information Officer Suzette Kent praised President Biden for his ongoing partnership with industry to safely evolve innovation within AI.
“The government’s commitment to rapidly evolving tech policy, in sync with purchasing and hiring directives at the pace of technological advancements should not be overlooked,” Kent said. “The AI Executive Order gives me hope that this focused effort to advance use of AI in government will continue.”
“I am pleased that Government’s intent for deep engagement with the private sector continues to evolve. Public and private sector collaboration brings forward practical experiences to more quickly evolve thinking in the AI and data space,” she added.
GDIT’s Vice President of AI and Data Insights, Dave Vennergrund, recognized that the EO is an ambitious and comprehensive roadmap which outlines clear expectations for industry in terms of how AI should be designed, developed and deployed.
“The opportunities that AI technologies present are tremendous, from advancing cyber security and medical research to delivering operational efficiencies. However, as with any disruptive technology, it’s important to consider and mitigate risks. The speed, pervasiveness and disruption associated with the emergence and adoption of AI/ML requires striking the right balance between accelerating innovation using AI and implementing it safely and securely. GDIT feels strongly that the responsible use of AI is critical,” Vennergrund said.
“Overall, this Executive Order is a great start and aligns to GDIT’s view of balancing innovation with safety and our commitment to creating safe, secure, and responsible AI technologies,” he added.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company supports the safe, secure, and responsible development of AI technology, adding, “We are committed to supporting our customers in the public sector and industry as they work to implement the executive order, and to doing our part to drive innovation, develop the AI workforce, and establish the necessary safeguards to advance the secure and responsible use of AI.”
Alondra Nelson, the former Principal Deputy Director for Science and Society at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said, “Having led the development of the White House’s AI Bill of Rights … I applaud President Biden’s executive order and its careful attention to preserving our rights and protecting our communities from AI risks and harms. We have more work to do in coalition and with Congress to make the AI Bill of Rights the architecture for federal regulation and oversight of AI. This executive order is a meaningful step toward that future.”
Drew Bagley, the vice president of privacy and cyber policy at software company CrowdStrike, noted that AI has long been transformative for modern technology, but recent developments have lowered the barrier of entry to innovators and adversaries alike.
“We continue to see adversaries leverage large language models (LLMs) to move more quickly and scale their operations. Beyond cyberattacks, in the lead up to the 2024 election cycle, misinformation campaigns driven by AI are of particular concern for our industry and something we’re watching closely,” Bagley said.
“Ultimately, it’s critical that AI can and should be leveraged in a responsible way. The natural language interface of today’s LLMs has the potential to make cybersecurity roles and responsibilities more broadly accessible, helping to close the cybersecurity skills gap and improve response time so defenders can stay ahead of adversaries – boosting proactive security across organizations and agencies,” he said. “This is why investing in responsible AI innovation is more critical than ever.”
Nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens said this week’s EO is on track to represent a remarkable, whole-of-government effort to support the responsible development and governance of AI.
“It’s notable to see the Administration focusing on both the emergent risks of sophisticated foundation models and the many ways in which AI systems are already impacting people’s rights — a crucial approach that responds to the many concerns raised by public interest experts and advocates,” Reeve Givens said. “The Administration is rightly underscoring that U.S. innovation must also include efforts to deploy technology responsibly.”
“We expect the Order will address critical components of AI risk management and lift up several key areas where AI is currently deployed, from the workplace and housing to education and government benefits programs,” she continued, adding, “These directly reflect demands from civil society: Actions to address the use of AI for tracking workers’ activities; tenant screening systems; administering public benefits; in education and in the criminal justice system are all welcome steps at a critical time.”
“Of course, the EO’s success will rely on its effective implementation. We urge the Administration to move quickly to meet relevant deadlines, and to ensure that any guidance or mandates issued under the EO are sufficiently detailed and actionable to have their intended effect,” Reeve Givens said.
Booz Allen Hamilton’s Senior Vice President of AI, Graham Gilmer, welcomed the announcement of the AI EO.
“The document represents the most comprehensive action taken by the Federal Government to set the national policy for AI and bring coherence to this complex environment,” Gilmer said. “As the largest provider of AI services support to the Federal Government, Booz Allen looks forward to working hand-in-hand with agencies to follow through on this order and fulfil the vision of ‘harnessing AI for justice, security, and opportunity for all.’”
While the Center for Data Innovation praised the EO, the think tank also called on the government to make clear the implementation plans for the new marching orders.
“With this EO, the United States is demonstrating it takes AI oversight seriously, and as other countries move forward with their own AI laws and regulations, the United States has an opportunity to wield its influence to protect both U.S. consumers and businesses,” Hodan Omaar, a senior policy analyst, said. “However, while the general direction for AI oversight is clear, the specifics of implementation remain uncertain, which means both companies and regulators will need to navigate uncharted waters.”
“For example, the EO calls for new standards for red teaming, biological synthesis screening, and detecting AI-generated content. These are all active areas of research where there are no simple solutions,” she said. “Policymakers often forget that the reason industry hasn’t already adopted certain solutions is because those solutions don’t yet exist. This is one reason why it will be essential for the United States to continue to fund critical AI research in these areas.”
She concluded, “The government should prepare for a marathon – not a sprint.”
Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer and co-founder of software company Veracode, praised the Biden-Harris administration for taking steps to rein in a technology that could potentially see malicious and widespread misuse.
“This proactive approach is radically different from how the government has regulated new technologies in the past, and for good reason,” Wysopal said. “The rapid evolution of AI makes it hard to predict the outcome of the cyber arms race between defenders and attackers. The same ‘wait and see’ strategy that the government took to regulate the internet and social media is not going to work here.”
He continued, adding, “We should embrace this technology, but we need to do it safely. It’s a challenging problem, and just passing regulation is not going to solve it, but today is a start.”
“As the CTO of a global cybersecurity industry partner, we fully support the need for the AI Executive Order and the recommendations for immediate implementation,” Wysopal said.
