US to Form AI Task Force to Confront AI Threats to Safety
Leaders of the US House of Representatives said on 20th February 2024 they are forming a bipartisan task force to explore potential AI legislation.
The US is keen to continue addressing AI safety concerns, but its efforts have stalled, despite high-level proposals from the government over the past year like requiring technology companies to share their AI safety data.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries say that the task force would work to produce a comprehensive report and consider “guardrails that may be appropriate to safeguard the nation against current and emerging threats” - according to Reuters.
Keeping enterprise AI safe
Gen AI is causing widespread global debate, given its immense power to influence politics and potentially leading to mass job cuts in various key industries.
News of the US task force comes shortly after multiple large technology corporations like Microsoft, Google and Amazon signed an accord to fight deceptive AI content, especially prior to upcoming national elections. Even in the US, a robocall using fake audio of US President Biden was circulated to voters, urging them to stay home during the presidential primary election.
As reported by Reuters, the task force report will include guiding principles, recommendations and policy proposals. Jeffries says that “the rise of AI presents a unique set of challenges and certain guardrails must be put in place to protect the American people.”
The report will also detail the regulatory standards and congressional actions needed to protect customers, in addition to boosting safe innovations and investments in AI.
World leaders are keen to work with large technology companies moving forward to ensure that AI is not only more open source, but also developed and deployed in a more ethical way. As a result, companies and individual users of AI will be able to have the most positive and productive experience with the technology.
Rising global regulations, as world leaders advocate for safe AI
The US government is also proposing that cloud companies should be required to determine if foreign entities are accessing US data centres to train AI models, according to Reuters.
In the wake of events like the UK AI Safety Summit in 2023, more world and business leaders are having important conversations over advocating for safe AI. With such a rapid increase in AI systems readily available, the US sees the importance of keeping AI ethics up-to-speed to protect both people and businesses.
The UK in particular formed its own AI task force as part of a million-pound investment into the technology. Its aim was to create clearer guidelines for testing cutting-edge AI models, with the hope of offering a benchmark for international-level testing.
This announcement also comes in the midst of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ companies continuing to dominate the market, as their stocks continue to rise on account of AI advancements.
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