US Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence Demands Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development
The Biden Administration recently issued an executive order to ensure the safe, ethical, and responsible development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The Order prioritizes a coordinated federal government approach, outlining principles and guidelines to mitigate risks from irresponsible AI systems, while simultaneously maintaining support for innovation that can solve significant challenges.
The Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence is guided by eight core principles:
- The safety and security of AI
- Supporting responsible competition
- Assisting workers in AI-driven transitions
- Ensuring that AI does not conflict with civil rights protections
- Protecting consumers and patients
- Prioritizing privacy and liberties
- Managing federal AI risks
- Advancing American leadership in setting global AI standards
The Order also directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to produce additional guidelines to support the current AI Risk Management Framework (NIST AI 100-1) and take actions to ensure the secure and trustworthy development and use of AI, which will impact companies working with AI technologies.
Companies should pay attention to this executive order to ensure compliance with the new standards and guidelines for AI development and use. Following these guidelines proactively, even if not yet legally required, enables companies to mitigate risks, address biases, and build trust with consumers.
Given AI’s expanding integration and impacts, aligning development and deployment practices with the order’s principles around safety, transparency, and accountability fosters innovation responsibly. Adopting emerging standards will prepare companies for regulatory changes while demonstrating commitments to AI ethics.
What Are AI Ethics?
AI ethics refer to the principles and guidelines that govern the development and deployment of artificial intelligence systems to ensure they are safe, secure, and trustworthy. The recent Executive Order on AI underscores the importance of these ethics by mandating adherence to frameworks like the AI Risk Management Framework and NIST CSF, set forth by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The Biden Administration has placed a strong focus on ethical AI to prevent biases and ensure transparency, with institutions like the AI Safety and Security Board and the White House AI Council playing pivotal roles in oversight. Companies such as Kiteworks, Armis, and Protect.AI are actively involved in aligning with these ethical standards, providing crucial support to safeguard intellectual property and sensitive data. By integrating AI ethics into their development processes, organizations can responsibly advance technology while fostering public trust and meeting national security obligations.
Ethical Challenges Posed by AI
The ethical challenges posed by AI as outlined in the Executive Order on AI are expansive, emphasizing the need for responsible innovation amidst accelerating technological change. The Biden Administration prioritizes ethical AI development by integrating principles such as transparency, accountability, and inclusivity into the AI Risk Management Framework, formulated in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The creation of entities like the AI Safety and Security Board and the White House AI Council underscores a commitment to addressing ethical challenges head-on, ensuring AI technologies foster trust and do not amplify societal biases or vulnerabilities.
How Businesses Can Create More Ethical AI
To create more ethical AI, businesses must align their development processes with the mandates outlined in the Executive Order on AI, issued by the Biden Administration. This involves implementing robust AI Risk Management Frameworks, as recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). By adhering to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), businesses can establish standards that not only safeguard data but also uphold the integrity and transparency of AI systems.
The formation of the AI Safety and Security Board, alongside the White House AI Council, highlights the necessity for continuous oversight to ensure ethical AI deployment. Involvement from the business community is crucial. Organizations must offer advanced solutions to combat risks in AI development. These measures foster a collaborative environment where AI technologies advance responsibly, balancing innovation with ethical obligations and societal trust.
Implementation of the Order
The order has introduced a whole-of-government approach, directing specific actions across federal agencies and departments, and establishing new coordinating bodies.
One of the more significant steps is the publication of an AI Bill of Rights, which provides AI safety guidelines. The order also aims at promoting new public-private research partnerships and apprenticeships to assist in developing AI talent. Moreover, the Order calls for anti-discrimination requirements for AI systems used by federal and state programs. Lastly, the advancement of privacy-enhancing technologies and the labeling of AI-generated content are highlighted as key enablers for trustworthy AI adoption.
What is the AI Bill of Rights?
The AI Bill of Rights is a pivotal aspect of the Executive Order on AI, introduced by the Biden Administration to foster the safe, secure, and trustworthy development of artificial intelligence technologies.
Central to this initiative is the establishment of guidelines that prioritize transparency, accountability, and protection of data, ensuring AI systems operate ethically and without bias. By partnering with organizations such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and leveraging the insights of the AI Risk Management Framework, the initiative seeks to create a standardized approach to managing AI risks.
Businesses play a crucial role in this landscape by providing solutions to protect intellectual property and sensitive information. Through collaborative efforts with the AI Safety and Security Board, the White House AI Council, and technology innovations from the private sector, the AI Bill of Rights aims to address diverse challenges while supporting the growth of a resilient AI ecosystem.
Are the AI Bill of Rights Enforceable?
The enforceability of the AI Bill of Rights, as part of the broader Executive Order on AI issued by the Biden Administration, involves the integration and consistent application of established frameworks like the AI Risk Management Framework developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
While the Executive Order outlines ambitious goals for enhancing AI safety and security, practical enforcement relies heavily on regulatory bodies such as the AI Safety and Security Board and the White House AI Council to dictate compliance and monitor adherence across the industry. Technology companies can help by implementing robust security measures and safeguarding sensitive data in alignment with the Executive Order’s objectives.
The collaboration between government agencies and technology leaders is essential to ensure that AI applications meet the safety and ethical standards necessary for protecting public interests. As AI technologies rapidly advance, the effectiveness and enforceability of these guidelines will depend on a dynamic synergy between innovation and regulation, fostering an environment where security and trust are paramount.
Will There be AI Laws in the Future?
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, the prospect of AI laws in the future becomes increasingly likely. The Biden Administration’s Executive Order on AI underscores the urgency of establishing robust regulations to manage AI risks and ethical concerns.
By advocating for an AI Risk Management Framework aligned with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF), the order seeks to safeguard AI development. The White House AI Council and the AI Safety and Security Board are pivotal in guiding these efforts, ensuring that AI systems are securely and ethically deployed.
Technology companies contribute significantly by protecting sensitive data and intellectual property, while others enhance transparency and security in AI applications. The collective action of these entities, supported by the Executive Order, lays the groundwork for future AI legislation that prioritizes safety, security, and ethical standards.
Equity Assessments and Risk Management
There is a specific direction in the executive order for federal agencies to incorporate equity assessments, risk management practices, and continuous monitoring in all government AI uses that impact Americans’ rights. This includes taking measures such as implementing algorithmic discrimination testing, undertaking enhanced cybersecurity audits, carrying out external red-team vulnerability assessments, and introducing watermarking requirements for AI outputs. Civil rights authorities are also empowered to address any areas of unfair bias or disparity introduced by automated systems.
AI Safety and Security Board
The Order sets up a dedicated AI Safety and Security Board, advising on managing risks from AI integration into vital sectors including finance, healthcare, transportation, and education where there could be significant public impacts.
The order also stresses the importance of supporting American technology leadership and collaboration with international allies in setting global AI standards. It promotes consensus principles and providing technical aid for countries adopting AI in critical infrastructure and burgeoning sectors.
White House AI Council
For execution purposes, a White House AI Council has been established, chaired by the Deputy Chief of Staff. This council includes Cabinet-level heads from all the major federal departments as well as independent agencies.
The council is tasked with coordinating AI policies and guiding the integration of safe AI adoption across various government functions. Overall, the Order presents a comprehensive plan for strengthening both America’s innovative edge in artificial intelligence and the public guardrails required to responsibly reap the benefits of this transformation.
Innovative Cybersecurity Leaders Show Their Support
Kiteworks and other AI Security Innovative Leaders including OpenPolicy, Armis, Cranium.AI, Axonius, HiddenLayer, Protect.AI, Astrix Security, and Cybeats, recently released a joint statement on the Executive Order:
The Executive Order is a welcomed and necessary step forward in ensuring both the trusted deployment of AI and seizing U.S. competitiveness and leadership in AI development. Supporting the trusted deployment and development of AI entails supporting the development of cutting-edge innovative solutions needed to protect government, industry, and society from emerging AI threats. The undersigned are innovative companies of all sizes that stand forefront of developing leading security, safety, and trustworthy AI and privacy solutions. We believe that the Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Order provides a sound framework for addressing the emerging security and safety AI threats and ensuring that AI is developed and used in a safe, secure, and trustworthy manner.
As an industry leader in content governance, Kiteworks is uniquely positioned to support the Executive Order on AI.
Kiteworks provides robust controls over sensitive content, preventing unauthorized access or use that could lead to data breaches or biased AI training sets. Specifically, Kiteworks allows granular policies to be set protecting content integrity, enforcing access approvals, and controlling downstream usage. These capabilities directly address the order’s aims around privacy preservation and responsible AI adoption. Kiteworks also advocates for security frameworks like the NIST CSF that complement the administration’s push for standardized assessments.
Overall, Kiteworks’ expertise in securing sensitive content against misuse aligns with and enables the Order’s vision of trustworthy AI progress through prudent content governance.
Building Trust in AI Through Prudent Progress
President Biden’s Executive Order on AI represents a crucial step in guiding the responsible development of these transformative technologies. As AI systems become more prevalent, they introduce emerging risks that require coordinated mitigation efforts around biases, privacy breaches, and attacks.
This Order puts into place a strategy which is informed by sector experts like Kiteworks and other leaders to strengthen AI safety through ongoing assessments, audits, and standards implementation. It also aims to accelerate the promise of AI personalizing healthcare, creating safer transport and more engaging education, as well as a higher prioritization of transparency, accountability, and equitable access while balancing innovation. This order works to manage the risks to build widespread trust and enable faster progress of AI done safely.
As AI integration accelerates across industries, Kiteworks provides a robust solution for organizations to ensure regulatory adherence and mitigate emerging content risks. For example, Kiteworks enables robust governance over sensitive data used to train AI systems, directly addressing core tenants of the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
By allowing granular policies to control access, usage, and visibility of sensitive content, Kiteworks helps organizations mitigate risks around data breaches, biases, and unauthorized exposure that can arise from AI.
Kiteworks empowers demonstrable compliance with the framework’s prescribed practices for continuous monitoring, evaluating algorithmic fairness, and maintaining data integrity. For any entity leveraging AI, Kiteworks provides a scalable path towards responsible oversight of training data while unlocking innovation opportunities.
Whether meeting existing regulations or new safety guidelines, Kiteworks’ expertise in securing sensitive content against misuse provides a reliable path towards the executive order’s vision of trustworthy and equitable AI progress. The Platform’s protections allow entities to fully actualize AI’s potential through a robust data governance approach aligned with emerging best practices.
To learn more how Kiteworks can protect your organization from the risks associated with artificial intelligence, schedule a custom demo today.
Additional Resources
- Blog Post AI for the Good and Bad in Cybersecurity
- Blog Post Building Trust in Generative AI with a Zero Trust Approach
- Blog Post The Promise of DRM and Why It Typically Falls Short
- Webinar The Evolution and Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Data Security Decisions
- Video Kiteworks SafeEDIT: Next-generation Digital Rights Management (DRM)