Other reports in this series:
- Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series – Roundtable 1: Government as a User of AI
- Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series – Roundtable 2: Government as an Employer of AI Talent
- Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series – Roundtable 4: Capstone
Introduction
The U.S. government has embraced the potential of artificial intelligence. However, there are not yet sufficiently comprehensive strategies and guardrails across federal agencies to maximize AI applications that serve the public good while mitigating risks. In light of this gap, Georgetown’s Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series brings together leading voices to grapple with the legal liability questions that AI poses, examine AI’s potential to transform government services, and consider how the government can better attract and use AI talent.
The federal government has been particularly active on AI over the last several years. Following the release of several advanced large language models, President Joe Biden signed the groundbreaking Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence in October 2023.1 In March 2024, the Office of Management and Budget released its government-wide policy, Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence, which complements the recently finalized European Union AI Act.2 Additionally, the Government Accountability Office conducted its audit of current AI uses by federal agencies.3 This work followed efforts dating back to the first Trump administration, which implemented agency AI use case inventories in Executive Order 13960, Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government.4 However, many questions on the U.S. government’s use and procurement of AI tools and hiring of AI-enabling talent remain unaddressed.
Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology and Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation (Beeck Center), together with the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy, led a series of invite-only roundtables over the course of 2024 to discuss these pressing questions. This resulting report was authored in 2024 after those discussions.
On October 9, 2024, the Beeck Center hosted the third roundtable in the series. This event focused on the U.S. government’s procurement process for AI. This report summarizes and reflects on the key findings, takeaways, and recommendations from the roundtable, which was conducted under the Chatham House Rule. All names, affiliations, and other identifying information have been omitted from this report.
The first two roundtables in the series featured discussions on the role of government as a user of AI and an employer of AI talent. These events featured debates on appropriately scoping definitions of AI to capture and govern potential AI use cases, establishing flexible regulatory frameworks that can effectively evolve with new technology, and ensuring agencies have the projects and support systems in place to effectively onboard AI talent and incentivize them to stay in government over the long term.
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Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series – Roundtable 3: Government as Buyer of AI- Exec. Order No. 14110, 88 FR 75191 (2023), www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/01/2023-24283/safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence.
- Director of OMB, Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence, M-24-10, March 28, 2024, www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/M-24-10-Advancing-Governance-Innovation-and-Risk-Management-for-Agency-Use-of-Artificial-Intelligence.pdf; European Union, “Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 Laying Down Harmonised Rules on Artificial Intelligence and Amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Artificial Intelligence Act)Text with EEA Relevance” (2024), https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/the-act/.
- Government Accountability Office, Artificial Intelligence: Agencies Have Begun Implementation but Need to Complete Key Requirements (Washington, D.C.: Government Accountability Office, December 2023), www.gao.gov/assets/d24105980.pdf.
- Exec. Order No. 13960, 85 FR 78939 (2020), www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/12/08/2020-27065/promoting-the-use-of-trustworthy-artificial-intelligence-in-the-federal-government.