A.I. has become a defining issue of our time, affecting national security, economic development, human rights, social media and many other domains. President Donald Trump signed an executive order launching the “American AI Initiative”, directing federal agencies to officially focus more on artificial intelligence technology.
The administration will be assigning federal agencies specific timelines for “deliverables” and expects to release more information about the initiative in the next six months.
The initiative is following at least 18 other countries that have announced their own artificial intelligence strategies.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order, launching an initiative to ensure the country’s leadership in artificial intelligence (AI).
The five “key pillars” of the American AI Initiative are:
- Research and Development
- Infrastructure
- Governance
- Workforce
- International Engagement
The American AI Initiative follows several steps the Trump administration has already taken on A.I.
A.I. Principles Suggested
- A.I. breakthroughs are good;
- A.I. should have standards;
- A.I. training is important;
- A.I. needs to be a trusted technology;
- foreign markets should remain open to U.S. A.I.
A.I. Objectives Suggested
- Government should invest in A.I.;
- Federal data should be available for A.I. to crunch;
- Barriers to achieving A.I. should be reduced;
- Someone should develop A.I. standards;
- Workers should be trained to do A.I., including federal workers;
- The U.S. should have an A.I. “action plan.”
The White House’s latest executive order correctly highlights AI as a major priority for US policymaking, … (but I am) concerned about its focus on industry and apparent lack of input from academia and civic leaders.
In my (Steve) opinion this might not be needed, but it is also not necessarily a bad thing. Government departments can be slow to move at times but with the right motivation great things can be achieved (see the Moon landings). It certainly will lead to easier justification of AI budgets in the US government which in turn should be an additional boost to the AI industry I am in. I also won’t be surprised if Donald Trump will want to claim he was the sole reason AI was a success in the US. We shall see on Twitter how that pans out.
