Biden admin moves to implement use of AI across federal agencies

President Biden is expected to sign an executive order next week that will, in part, call on federal agencies to assess how they can better utilize artificial intelligence in their day-to-day operations.

This marks yet another step in the administration's push to adopt the controversial and rapidly advancing technology in more and more sectors of the government and the lives of its citizens.

According to the Washington Post, the White House sent out invitations to a "Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence" event set to take place on Monday, suggesting the long-awaited executive order will be signed shortly thereafter.

Under the terms of the order, federal agencies will be required to assess how they can incorporate AI into their operations, and provide the Biden administration with their findings.

The move comes three years after former president Trump's signing of Executive Order 13960, "Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government," which also required every agency to prepare an inventory of their current and planned uses of AI. 

The Department of Education, for example, created a chatbot to "answer common financial aid questions and help customers get information about their federal aid." In just two years, the AI-powered assistant has been used by over 2.6 million Americans.

Others, such as the Treasury Department, have numerous projects currently in the production stage that will help streamline behind-the-scenes operations.

Where the technology becomes more noticeable at a human level is in projects such as the Department of Homeland Security's "autonomous surveillance towers," which can detect, identify, and track "items of interest" without a dedicated operator.

The Central Intelligence Agency also recently revealed that it would be using AI to "sift through an avalanche of public information."

"We've gone from newspapers and radio, to newspapers and television, to newspapers and cable television, to basic internet, to big data, and it just keeps going," division director Randy Nixon, said in an interview with Bloomberg. "We have to find the needles in the needle field."

"The United States stands to benefit significantly from harnessing the opportunities of AI to improve government services," says AI.gov, claiming that the feds are "using AI to better serve Americans, across use cases in healthcare, transportation, the environment, and benefits delivery."

While the executive order will encourage the federal government to look at how the technology can assist all aspects of government, national cyber security will be a top priority.

To help safeguard against potential attacks by foreign adversaries, for example, any advanced AI models that will be used by federal employees must undergo rigorous assessments.

The Biden administration promised to protect Americans from the potential harms of AI, and has followed through on a few key initiatives that have worked to combat such issues.