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 3: Government as a Buyer of AI
Introduction
The U.S. government has embraced the potential of artificial intelligence, but there are not yet sufficiently comprehensive strategies and guardrails across federal agencies to maximize AI public good applications while mitigating risks. In light of this gap, Georgetown’s Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series brought 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 taken action on AI over the last two administrations, with activity particularly ramping up in the last few 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 (OMB) 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 Much of this work built on early efforts by the first Trump administration, such as its Executive Order 13960, Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government, which started the AI inventory process. However, many questions on the U.S. government’s use, procurement, and hiring of AI tools and talent remain unaddressed.
Georgetown University’s Center for Security Emerging Technology and Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, together with the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy, led a series of private, invitation-only roundtables over the course of 2024 to discuss these pressing questions. This resulting report was authored in 2024 after those discussions.
These events culminated in a capstone discussion on December 16, which aimed to synthesize the three prior roundtable findings into potential policy recommendations and a final set of key challenges for government agencies to consider as they continue to adopt and deploy AI. This roundtable, like the three prior discussions, was conducted under the Chatham House Rule, and included participants from government, industry, civil society, and academia. All names, affiliations, and other identifying information have been omitted from this report.
Download Full Report
Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series – Roundtable 4: Capstone- 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.