On AI, National Security and more
Last week, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “We have to be faster in deploying AI and our national security enterprise than America's rivals are in theirs ..If we don't deploy AI more quicklyand comprehensively to strengthen our national security, we risk squandering our hard-earned lead."
The White House, in a memorandum on AI, said “AI has emerged as an era-defining technology and has demonstrated significant and growing relevance to national security.
"AI, if used appropriately and for its intended purpose, can offer great benefits.
"If misused, AI could threaten United States national security, bolster authoritarianism worldwide, undermine democratic institutions and processes, facilitate human rights abuses, and weaken the rules-based international order.
"If the United States Government does not act with responsible speed and in partnership with industry, civil society, and academia to make use of AI capabilities in service of the national security mission... it risks losing ground to strategic competitors."
Separately, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said "AI is the defining technology of our generation."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said “Strengthening international collaboration on AI safety is critical to harnessing AI technology to solve the world’s greatest challenges."
The Commerce Department and State Department will co-host an AI safety summit on November 20-21, 2024, in San Francisco. It will include representatives from Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Japan, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, U.K., and the U.S. as well as experts from civil society, academia, and industry.
OUR TAKE
Government use of AI is taking place in several areas including: 1) defense/military/law enforcement for autonomous systems, intelligence analysis, threat detection, facial recognition, 2) healthcare for medical imaging, patient assessment, records management, 3) administrative for customer service, application processing, language translation and 4) research for climate modeling, drug discovery, exploration and energy optimization.
International cooperation on AI is an ambitious goal that faces several challenges including 1) nations pursue different objectives, 2) the need to protect sensitive information, 3) public and private sectors maintain distinct practices and 4) rapidly evolving technology.
While there has been significant attention on generative AI servicespowered by large language models from organizations like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, the AI risk landscape is more expansive - and includes traditional expert systems, computer vision, robotic control systems and specialized algorithms addressing physical world challenges.