The US Government Launches A Platform To Evaluate GenAI Technology, Among Other Moves

With the rapid and unprecedented expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), many have questioned the safety of the applications being developed, published and shared.

As a result, US President Joe Biden had passed an Executive Order (EO) on the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.

Now, following the 180-day mark since the order, the US government has an update on the progress made towards the President’s initiative.

So, what did the US Department of Commerce reveal? Let’s explore!
 

What Did The Department Of Commerce Announce?

 

• In a press release published on its website, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced several new updates to the Executive Order issued by President Joe Biden in October 2023.

• The DOC’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which develops and tests technology for the government, companies and public, has released four draft publications aimed at achieving the EO’s goal.

• The first publication, AI Risk Management Framework: Generative AI Profile, helps organizations identify and mitigate unique risks posed by GenAI and proposes suitable actions for GenAI management. It contains a list of 13 risks and over 400 actions.

• The second publication, Secure Software Development Practices for Generative AI and Dual-Use Foundation Models, focuses on addressing concerns around malicious training data and reducing threats, while also offering guidance on data collection processes.

• The third publication, Reducing Risks Posed by Synthetic Content, “lays out methods for detecting, authenticating and labeling synthetic content, including digital watermarking and metadata recording” and focuses on the dangers and risk reduction methods of synthetic content.

• The fourth publication, A Plan for Global Engagement on AI Standards, deals with driving the worldwide development and implementation of AI standards, cooperation, coordination and information sharing.

• Ahead of this, NIST also announced NIST GenAI, which is a new program to evaluate and measure generative AI technologies.

• As per the release, “The NIST GenAI program will issue a series of challenge problems designed to evaluate and measure the capabilities and limitations of generative AI technologies. These evaluations will be used to identify strategies to promote information integrity and guide the safe and responsible use of digital content.”

• This program will also help people determine if a text, image, code, video or audio recording was produced by human intelligence or artificial intelligence, as well as helping develop technology to identify the source of fake or misleading information.

• The release further mentioned that the publications are “initial drafts, which NIST is publishing now to solicit public feedback before submitting final versions later this year.”

 

What Did US Government Officials Say?

 

• Gina Raimondo, the US Secretary of Commerce, said, “In the six months since President Biden enacted his historic Executive Order on AI, the Commerce Department has been working hard to research and develop the guidance needed to safely harness the potential of AI, while minimizing the risks associated with it.”

• [Contd.] “The announcements we are making today show our commitment to transparency and feedback from all stakeholders and the tremendous progress we have made in a short amount of time. With these resources and the previous work on AI from the Department, we are continuing to support responsible innovation in AI and America’s technological leadership.”

• Laurie E. Locascio, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director, said, “For all its potentially transformative benefits, generative AI also brings risks that are significantly different from those we see with traditional software.”

• [Contd.] “These guidance documents will not only inform software creators about these unique risks, but also help them develop ways to mitigate the risks while supporting innovation.”

Do you think this step taken by the US Government towards measuring and enforcing safe and secure GenAI and AI research will be effective?

Let us know in the comments below!