There’s a lot to digest in the October 30 White House’s AI Executive Order. Our tracker is a useful starting point to identify key provisions and monitor the government’s progress against specific milestones, but grappling with the substance is an entirely different matter. This blog post, focusing on Section 4 of the EO (“Developing Guidelines, Standards, and Best Practices for AI Safety and Security”), is the first in a series that summarizes interesting provisions, shares some of our initial reactions, and highlights some of CSET’s research that may help the USG tackle the EO.

On October 30, 2023, the Biden administration released its long-awaited Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. CSET has broken down the EO, focusing on specific government deliverables. Our EO Provision and Timeline tracker lists which agencies are responsible for actioning EO provisions and their deadlines.

On September 19, 2023, one of us had the opportunity to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight, chaired by Senator Maggie Hassan. Members of the subcommittee asked for an actionable plan for the U.S. government (USG) to address concerns about emerging technologies, like AI, synthetic biology and genetic engineering, and quantum technologies. This blog post endeavors to summarize near term policy recommendations based on CSET research as well as our best guesses about what is needed to address emerging concerns about these technologies.

This blog post by CSET’s Executive Director Dewey Murdick explores two different metaphorical lenses for governing the frontier of AI. The "Space Exploration Approach" likens AI models to spacecrafts venturing into unexplored territories, requiring detailed planning and regular updates. The "Snake-Filled Garden Approach" views AI as a garden with both harmless and dangerous 'snakes,' necessitating rigorous testing and risk assessment. In the post, Dewey examines these metaphors and the different ways they can inform approaches to AI governance strategy that balances innovation with safety, all while emphasizing the importance of ongoing learning and adaptability.

“AI red-teaming” is currently a hot topic, but what does it actually mean? This blog post explains the term’s cybersecurity origins, why AI red-teaming should incorporate cybersecurity practices, and how its evolving definition and sometimes inconsistent usage can be misleading for policymakers interested in exploring testing requirements for AI systems.

The EU AI Act is nearing formal adoption and implementation. Read this blog post, with updated analysis following the December 2023 political agreement, by CSET’s resident EU expert and Research Fellow, Mia Hoffmann. Learn what we know about the Act and what it means for AI regulation in the EU (and the world).

On September 8, 2023, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) released their Bipartisan Framework on AI Legislation. The framework includes many ideas and recommendations that CSET research has highlighted over the past four years. This blog post highlights some of the most relevant reports and CSET’s perspective on the framework’s elements.

Universities can build more inclusive computer science programs by addressing the reasons that students may be deterred from pursuing the field. This blog post explores some of those reasons, features of CS education that cause them, and provides recommendations on how to design learning experiences that are safer and more exploratory for everyone.

As policymakers decide how best to regulate AI, they first need to grasp the different types of harm that various AI applications might cause at the individual, national, and even societal levels. To better understand AI harm, this blog post presents some key components and characteristics.

The much-anticipated National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES) provides a comprehensive set of strategic objectives for training and producing more cyber talent by prioritizing and encouraging the development of more localized cyber ecosystems that serve the needs of a variety of communities rather than trying to prescribe a blanket policy. This is a much-needed and reinvigorated approach that understands the unavoidable inequities in both cyber education and workforce development, but provides strategies for mitigating them. In this blog post, we highlight key elements that could be easily overlooked.