Press Call by Vice President Harris On Artificial Intelligence

Via Teleconference

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Director Young.  And I — I want to thank you for your longstanding leadership to our country.  From your days on Capitol Hill to your leadership here at the White House, you have been responsible for ensuring that our nation puts resources into future-forward policy in so many ways.  So, thank you, Director Young, for your leadership. 

And greetings to everyone.  Thank you for joining us. 

So, I believe that all leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector have a moral, ethical, and societal duty to make sure that artificial intelligence is adopted and advanced in a way that protects the public from potential harm while ensuring everyone is able to enjoy its full benefit. 

As Director Young mentioned, last year at the AI Safety Summit in London, I laid out our nation’s vision for the future of AI — a vision for a future where AI is used to advance the public interest.  And I’m going to emphasize that: advance the public interest. 

As a follow up to that presentation, months ago now, I am proud to announce three new binding requirements to promote the safe, secure, and responsible use of AI by our federal government. 

First, we are announcing new standards to protect rights and safety.  When government agencies use AI tools, we will now require them to verify that those tools do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people. 

I’ll give you an example.  If the Veterans Administration wants to use AI in VA hospitals to help doctors diagnose patients, they would first have to demonstrate that AI does not produce racially biased diagnoses.  So, that I offer as an example.

The second requirement — binding requirement relates to transparency.  The American people have a right to know that when and how their government is using AI that it is being used in a responsible way.  And we want to do it in a way that holds leaders accountable for the responsible use of AI.  Transparency often, and we believe, should facilitate accountability. 

And so, today, President Biden and I are requiring that every year, U.S. government agencies publish online a list of their AI systems, an assessment of the risks those systems might pose, and how those risks are being managed. 

Third and finally, a requirement that relates to internal oversight.  We have directed all federal agencies to designate a chief AI officer with the experience, expertise, and authority to oversee all — I’m going to emphasize that — all AI technologies used by that agency.  And this is to make sure that AI is used responsibly, understanding that we must have senior leaders across our government who are specifically tasked with overseeing AI adoption and use. 

In conclusion, I’ll say that these three new requirements have been shaped in consultation with leaders from across the public and private sectors, from computer scientists to civil rights leaders to legal scholars and business leaders. 

President Biden and I intend that these domestic policies will serve as a model for global action.  Again, I will reference my presentation in the United Kingdom as an example of our intention to provide standards that adopt universal rules and norms for the responsible and safe use of AI. 

And to that end, we will continue to call on all nations to follow our lead and put the public interest first when it comes to government use of AI. 

I thank you all again.  And now I will turn it back over to our director of our Office of Management and Budget, Shalanda Young.  Thank you, Director Young. 

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