It would be a massive understatement to say artificial intelligence has affected our lives. Whether that’s a positive or negative is entirely up to you. Virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri are integrated into many devices that people interact with everyday. Self-driving vehicles, not limited to Tesla models, utilize machine learning to teach AI to drive the vehicle. Manufacturing robots is another such example, although more relevant to business than the consumer. Some people view AI as a revolutionary breakthrough, allowing our day-to-day lives to become easier. However, others see artificial intelligence as dangerous, scary, or potentially “robots plotting to take over the world.” Regardless of what side you stand on in this matter, most do agree that AI should have regulations or guidelines which developers have to follow when building their creations. Last year, Joe Biden’s former chief science advisor, Eric Lander, proposed a “bill of rights” strictly for artificial intelligence, hoping to limit any potential harm that it could bring and earlier this week, the White House officially laid out the blueprint to make those plans a reality. Since the artificial intelligence bill is “opt in,” companies can choose to ignore it for now.
A report from the Washington Post details the proposal in-depth, claiming the bill has “five overarching principles,” including:
Users should be “protected from unsafe or ineffective” automated systems, and tools should be expressly “designed to proactively protect you from harms.” Discriminatory uses of algorithms and other AI should be prohibited, and tools should be developed with an emphasis on equity. Companies should build privacy protections into products to prevent “abusive data practices” and users should have “agency” over how their data is used. Systems should be transparent so that users “know that an automated system is being used” and understand how it’s affecting them. Users should be able to “opt out of automated systems in favor of a human alternative, where appropriate.”
Alondra Nelson, the deputy director of science and society for the White House, spoke further to the Washington Post, claiming that the bill is simply “laying down a marker for the protections.” An anonymous White House official stated these plans are a “call to action” and “we recognize there is still a lot of work to do.” Since the artificial intelligence bill is “opt in,” companies can choose to ignore it for now. This may change if Congress elects to enforce the protections which are laid out within those plans, but that could be years away. It is interesting to see the U.S. government step up and attempt to keep AI under check to ensure it doesn’t blossom into something dangerous to any citizens.
