Biden to meet with AI experts to talk regulation and safety

President Joe Biden is expected to meet with a cohort of experts and researchers in the expanding field of artificial intelligence, part of the ongoing executive effort to integrate more private sector and academic expertise into federal technology policy.

Announced on Monday by a White House official, the specific experts set to meet with Biden work specifically in studying the impact AI is slated to have on work and careers, bias and prejudice, and children’s issues.

These focus areas represent some of the societal elements AI systems stand to impact as they are further integrated into technology networks and infrastructure.

“AI is a top priority for the president and his team,” the press release reads. “Generative AI tools have increased significantly in the past several months and we don’t want to solve yesterday’s problem.”

The attendees come from diverse industry backgrounds, including Tristan Harris, executive director and co-founder of the Center for Human Technology; Jim Steyer, the founder and CEO of Common Sense Media; Rob Reich, a professor of political science at Stanford University; Joy Buolamwin, the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League; Fei-Fei Li, co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute; Oren Etzioni, former CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence; Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy; and Jennifer Doudna, professor of chemistry at UC-Berkeley.

Discussion topics will center around the societal risks AI poses absent federal regulation, as well as the need for a “secure by design” software development approach.

Larger developments on the AI regulatory front are expected to arrive “in the coming weeks,” the official said, with the White House chief of staff’s office helming the development of a series of “decisive actions.”

Following a slew of executive actions to help apply best practices for safe AI system deployment, the official confirmed that the Office of Management and Budget is set to release new draft policy guidance for federal agencies that will help keep civil liberties at the forefront of procurement and usage of AI tech.

This meeting follows the Biden administration’s earlier efforts to incorporate leading tech companies into the national conversation surrounding AI tools’ development and deployment, having summoned top AI company CEOs to Washington in May. The ideal outcome for the White House would be commitments from tech leaders to help the government fend off these challenges posed by new AI, according to the official.