On October 12, 2022, it was a thrill to meet and chat with Fei-Fei Li, the Sequoia Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University, Denning Co-Director, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. We met at the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee Meeting at Stanford University.
As I explained to my wife, Dr. Li belongs on the Mount Rushmore of thought leaders in the field of artificial intelligence. The “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” was a hot topic of the meeting. Find out more at whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights.
Among the great challenges posed to democracy today is the use of technology, data and automated systems in ways that threaten the rights of the American public. Too often, these tools are used to limit our opportunities and prevent our access to critical resources or services. These problems are well documented. In America, and around the world, systems that are supposed to help with patient care have proven unsafe, ineffective or biased. Algorithms used in hiring and credit decisions have been found to reflect and reproduce existing unwanted inequities or embed new harmful bias and discrimination. Unchecked social media data collection has been used to threaten people’s opportunities, undermine their privacy or pervasively track their activity -— often without their knowledge or consent.
These outcomes are deeply harmful -— but they are not inevitable. Automated systems have brought about extraordinary benefits, from technology that helps farmers grow food more efficiently and computers that predict storm paths, to algorithms that can identify diseases in patients. These tools now drive important decisions across sectors, while data is helping to revolutionize global industries. Fueled by the power of American innovation, these tools hold the potential to redefine every part of our society and make life better for everyone.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has identified five principles that should guide the design, use and deployment of automated systems to protect the American public in the age of artificial intelligence.
The “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” is a guide for a society that protects all people from these threats — and uses technologies in ways that reinforce our highest values. Responding to the experiences of the American public, and informed by insights from researchers, technologists, advocates, journalists and policymakers, this framework is accompanied by “From Principles to Practice” — a handbook for anyone seeking to incorporate these protections into policy and practice, including detailed steps toward actualizing these principles in the technological design process. These principles help provide guidance whenever automated systems can meaningfully impact the public’s rights, opportunities or access to critical needs.
– Mark Watts is an experienced imaging professional who founded an AI company called Zenlike.ai.
