Public Knowledge calls for a US federal authority to focus on AI

Public Knowledge has published a white paper on ‘The Inevitability of AI Law and Policy: Preparing Government for the Era of Autonomous Machines’, calling for the creation of a new federal authority in the US to assist the government in implementing fair and equitable artificial intelligence (AI). The paper outlines the risks and challenges brought by the fast-advancing AI technologies, including to marginalised and vulnerable groups, and notes that a new agency is needed to build the necessary capacities for the government to govern these new technologies. Such a new agency would focus on: boosting sector-specific regulators and  confronting overarching policy challenges raised by AI; protecting public values in government procurement and implementation of AI; attracting AI practitioners to civil service and building centralised and durable AI expertise within government; identifying major gaps in the laws and regulatory frameworks that govern AI; and coordinating strategies and priorities for international AI governance.