President Trump is expected to sign an executive order today announcing the “American AI Initiative,” reports the MIT Technology Review. The aim of the new initiative is to boost AI development and funding in the U.S. and also to ensure that America is a leader when it comes to helping shape global artificial intelligence policies. According to the MIT Technology Review, the initiative hopes to achieve five key things:
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Redirect funding: The order will direct federal funding agencies to prioritize investments in artificial intelligence.
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Create resources: It will seek to make federal data, computer models, and computing resources available to AI researchers.
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Establish standards: It will direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create standards that foster the development of “reliable, robust, trustworthy, secure, portable, and interoperable AI systems.”
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Retrain workers: It will ask agencies to prioritize preparing workers for the changes brought about by AI through apprenticeships, skills programs, and fellowships.
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Engage internationally: It will call for a strategy for international collaboration that ensures AI is developed in a way that is consistent with American “values and interests.”
While an official American AI Initiative is a welcome move, those in the industry will be disappointed that the initiative doesn’t actually include any new funding for AI development and is pretty light on details besides those laid out above.
It’s often said that in the future the country with the best AI will lead the world in everything from economics to medicine to warfare, so an official “American AI Initiative” was always something of a no-brainer. However, America is hardly the first to have a national AI initiative. Eighteen other countries have beaten America to the punch in that regard.
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