The Biden administration wants strong guidelines for generative A.I. This effort to establish privacy and security rules around the use of A.I. could have significant long-term effects on every tech professional who works with the technology.
The administration’s new executive order, issued October 30, seeks to shape the development of generative A.I. in the following areas:
- New standards for A.I. safety and security
- Protecting Americans’ privacy
- Advancing equity and civil rights
- Standing up for consumers, patients, and students
- Supporting workers
- Promoting innovation and competition
- Advancing American leadership abroad
- Establishing responsible and effective government use of A.I.
That’s quite broad, and it’s a big question whether companies developing A.I. will agree to the White House’s proposed actions or wait for Congress to pass actual laws with teeth. For example, the executive order’s first bullet point asks A.I. developers to “share their safety test results and other critical information with the U.S. government,” which is something many companies will be loath to follow unless they’re forced via regulations.
If you work with A.I., the entire executive order (which is quite long) is worth reading. Many of the other bullet points address security and privacy issues specific to the U.S. government, such as preventing bioscience firms that receive federal funding from using A.I. to “engineer dangerous biological materials.” The White House also wants to strengthen privacy guidance for federal agencies to “account for A.I. risks.”
But the order’s other bullet points describe actions that companies will need to take on their own, possibly with federal agency oversight. For instance, as part of its “supporting workers” goal, the order asks for the development of “principles and best practices to mitigate the harms and maximize the benefits of A.I. for workers by addressing job displacement; labor standards; workplace equity, health, and safety; and data collection.” Given how many companies are puzzling their individual ways through all of those issues, it could be quite some time before industry-wide “principles and best practices” are established, much less transformed into law.
For those tech professionals interested in working for the federal government, the order contains one particularly interesting bit. The White House wants agencies to “accelerate the rapid hiring of A.I. professionals as part of a government-wide AI talent surge led by the Office of Personnel Management, U.S. Digital Service, U.S. Digital Corps, and Presidential Innovation Fellowship. Agencies will provide A.I. training for employees at all levels in relevant fields.” That’s potentially great news for anyone who wants free training and a federal job working with A.I.
In the meantime, the A.I. job market continues to grow. Whether you’re interested in cybersecurity, software development, or another tech arena, learning A.I.-related skills can help boost your marketability and, ultimately, your pay.
