FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a speech on healthcare at an event in Raleigh, N.C., March 26, 2024. U.S. federal agencies must show their artificial intelligence tools arent harming the public, or stop using them, under new rules unveiled by the White House on Thursday. Vice President Kamala Harris said government agencies that use AI tools will be required to verify that those tools do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people. U.S.
The new policy directive being issued to agency heads Thursday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget is part of the moreWhile Biden’s broader order also attempts to safeguard the more advanced commercial AI systems made by leading technology companies, such as those powering generative AI chatbots, Thursday’s directive targets AI tools that government agencies have been using for years to help with decisions about immigration, housing, child welfare and a range of other services.
Agencies that can't apply the safeguards “must cease using the AI system, unless agency leadership justifies why doing so would increase risks to safety or rights overall or would create an unacceptable impediment to critical agency operations,” according to a White House announcement. Some rules exempt intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense, which is having a separate debate about theShalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the new requirements are also meant to strengthen positive uses of AI by the U.S. government.