Harris unveils steps to curb AI risks

Vice President Harris on Wednesday unveiled several steps the Biden administration is taking to curb the risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI), building on the sweeping executive order President Biden issued earlier this week.

The announcement from London, where Harris is also scheduled to appear at the Global Summit for AI Safety, comes amid a larger push by the administration to establish the U.S. as a global leader in the rapidly advancing frontier of technology.

“President Biden and I reject the false choice that suggests we can either protect the public or advance innovation,” Harris said Wednesday at the U.S. Embassy. “We can and we must do both. The actions we take today will lay the groundwork for how AI will be used in the years to come.”

Harris announced that the administration will launch a new AI Safety Institute within the Department of Commerce focused on creating standards to test the safety of AI models and will release draft policy guidance for the U.S. government’s use of the technology.

She also touted the 30 countries that have endorsed America’s declaration on the responsible use of military AI capabilities, as well as the $200 million that the administration has secured in philanthropic funding for initiatives to advance AI in the “public interest.”

While the summit in the U.K. this week is largely focused on the “catastrophic” risks posed by AI, Harris on Wednesday also emphasized the importance of addressing the “full spectrum” of threats, including those that are "currently causing harm and which to many people also feel existential.”

“When a senior is kicked off his health care plan because of a faulty AI algorithm, is that not existential for him? When a woman is threatened by an abusive partner with explicit deep fake photographs, is that not existential for her?” Harris said.

“When a young father is wrongfully imprisoned because of biased AI facial recognition, is that not existential for his family? And when people around the world cannot discern fact from fiction because of a flood of AI enabled mis- and disinformation, I ask, is that not existential for democracy?” she continued.