President Biden Issues Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

President Joe Biden issued the executive order “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” on Oct. 30. The order acknowledged the growing use of AI, as well as its potential to solve challenges, increase productivity, spur innovation, and improve security, but also highlighted potential concerns such as disinformation, bias, and fraud.  

The order directs multiple federal agencies to develop plans to address the rise of AI. Specifically, the order requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish an AI Task Force to develop frameworks and policies to responsibly deploy AI in the health care sector. It also requires the HHS to work with the departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense to create a framework to identify and log clinical errors resulting from AI in health care settings. It also requires the Department of Commerce to create a pilot through the National AI Research Resource to expand research grants to study the use of AI in health care. The directive also created a White House AI Council, chaired by the White House deputy chief of staff and staffed by representatives from a broad array of federal agencies, which will coordinate federal activities on AI. 

It is expected that additional administrative and legislative efforts will emerge as the federal government determines the extent of its involvement in regulating and utilizing AI.