Sweeping AI executive order will serve as an early guardrail

President Joe Biden issued the US government’s first executive order on artificial intelligence, designed to simultaneously harness AI’s power and mitigate its most pressing risks.

The order builds on the White House’s prior meetings with and safety commitments from top AI companies. While the Biden administration has enacted some AI protocols in the past, the order marks “the strongest set of actions any government in the world has ever taken on AI safety, security, and trust,” according to a statement from White House deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed.

“One thing is clear: To realize the promise of AI and avoid the risks, we need to govern this technology,” Biden said in a White House address before the order was signed.

In a call with reporters, a senior administration official noted that Biden’s order, like all executive orders, carries “the force of law.” Congress will likely need to pass legislation, however, to make AI regulations enforceable.

The initial set of guardrails outlined in the order focuses on eight main pillars:

1. Establishing AI safety and security standards. The order requires AI developers to share safety test results with the government. It also calls on the Department of Commerce to develop best practices for content authentication to ensure consumers avoid “AI-enabled fraud.”
2. Privacy protection. Biden also calls on Congress to pass “bipartisan data privacy legislation to protect all Americans, especially kids,” against potential exploitation of personal data via AI.
3. Equity and civil rights. In an effort to avoid potential bias, the order says landlords and federal contractors must receive “clear guidance” "to keep AI algorithms from being used to exacerbate discrimination. The Biden administration also seeks to “ensure fairness throughout the criminal justice system” by developing best practices for sentencing, predictive policing, and forensic analysis.
4. Consumer protection. The order calls upon the Department of Health and Human Services to create a safety program for evaluating "harms or unsafe healthcare practices involving AI" as well as resources on how educators can responsibly use AI tools.
5. Supporting workers. To avoid job displacement and unnecessary workplace surveillance, the order calls for “a report on AI’s potential labor-market impacts,” plus further study into how the government can strengthen “federal support for workers facing labor disruptions” from AI.
6. Innovation and competition. The Biden administration also seeks to promote AI research and foster a “fair, open, and competitive AI ecosystem” by giving small developers resources and tech assistance and resources.
7. International cooperation. The White House will also “continue working with other nations” to implement worldwide AI standards.
8. Responsible government use of AI. Biden also calls for guidance for federal agencies using AI, plus an acceleration of governmental hiring of AI professionals.

So, when’s all this going to happen? A senior administration official told CNBC the “most aggressive” timing for some parts of the order would happen in a 90-day time frame, while others might take closer to a year.