Advancing AI Responsibly? NAIAC’s First Report and its Implications for AI-Enabled Fields

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Background Note: The National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC), administered by the U.S Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has released its first report focusing on AI-related risks and opportunities. It recommends measures to strengthen U.S. leadership in trustworthy AI, suggests new research and development (R&D) initiatives, encourages increased international cooperation, and offers strategies to support the U.S. workforce in the AI era.

The report also outlines NAIAC’s areas of focus for the next two years, including rapidly developing AI sectors like generative AI. NAIAC has established a Law Enforcement Subcommittee to address AI usage in the criminal justice system, and plans to reconfigure its working groups to explore AI’s impact on the workforce, equity, and society at large.

For cybersecurity, information governance, and eDiscovery professionals, this report could hold significant implications.

• Cybersecurity: The focus on developing trustworthy AI suggests an emphasis on building secure, robust, and dependable AI systems that can resist cyber threats. The mention of “generative AI,” which includes large language models powering chatbots, implies that the security of such systems is a priority, given their potential vulnerabilities to misuse.
• Information Governance: As AI is increasingly used in information management, the NAIAC’s guidelines could influence policies and practices surrounding data privacy, transparency, and ethics. The report’s emphasis on rights-respecting AI and the inclusion of a Law Enforcement Subcommittee signal a focus on ethical data usage and the safeguarding of individual privacy rights.
• eDiscovery: AI is transforming eDiscovery by improving the efficiency of data search, review, and analysis. The NAIAC’s actions may shape the legal and ethical guidelines for using AI in eDiscovery, influencing aspects such as accuracy, transparency, and bias mitigation in AI-powered data analysis.

In addition, the emphasis on international collaboration suggests that the committee is considering the global implications of AI, which could lead to more universally applicable standards or policies. These developments can directly shape the future strategies and tools employed by professionals in these fields.

NIST Announcement and Publication*

Announcement (June 22, 2023)

The National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC) has delivered its first report to the president, established a Law Enforcement Subcommittee to address the use of AI technologies in the criminal justice system, and completed plans to realign its working groups to allow it to explore the impacts of AI on workforce, equity, society and more.

The report recommends steps the U.S. government can take to maximize the benefits of AI technology, while reducing its harms. This includes new steps to bolster U.S. leadership in trustworthy AI, new R&D initiatives, increased international cooperation, and efforts to support the U.S. workforce in the era of AI. The report also identifies areas of focus for NAIAC for the next two years, including in rapidly developing areas of AI, such as generative AI.

“We are at a pivotal moment in the development of AI technology and need to work fast to keep pace with the changes it is bringing to our lives,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves. “As AI opens up exciting opportunities to improve things like medical diagnosis and access to health care and education, we have an obligation to make sure we strike the right balance between innovation and risk. We can lead the world in establishing trustworthy, inclusive and beneficial AI, and I look forward to considering the committee’s recommendations as we do that.”

When it comes to AI, President Biden has been clear that in order to seize the opportunities AI presents, we must first mitigate its risks. NAIAC’s work supports the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing efforts to promote responsible American innovation in AI and protect people’s rights and safety.

Given the fast pace of development and deployment of AI technology such as generative AI, which includes the large language models that power chatbots and other tools that create new content, the committee also plans to consider various mechanisms for carrying out its work on short time frames in the coming years.

The committee recently completed plans to realign its working groups to allow it to explore the impacts of AI on workforce, equity, society and more. The new NAIAC focus areas are:

• AI Futures: Sustaining Innovation in Next Gen AI
• AI in Work and the Workforce
• AI Regulation and Executive Action
• Engagement, Education and Inclusion
• Generative and NextGen AI: Safety and Assurance
• Rights-Respecting AI
• International Arena: Collaboration on AI Policy and AI-Enabled Solutions
• Procurement of AI Systems
• AI and the Economy

The full report, including all of its recommendations, is available on the AI.gov website. Join our mailing list to receive updates on committee activities.

The NAIAC was created by the National AI Initiative Act of 2020 to advise the president and the National AI Initiative Office in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The authorizing statute called for a Law Enforcement Subcommittee, the membership of which was finalized in April 2023. The NAIAC is administered by the U.S Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).