Publications

CSET produces evidence-driven analysis in a variety of forms, from informative graphics and translations to expert testimony and published reports. Our key areas of inquiry are the foundations of artificial intelligence — such as talent, data and computational power — as well as how AI can be used in cybersecurity and other national security settings. We also do research on the policy tools that can be used to shape AI’s development and use, and on biotechnology.

Annual Report

CSET at Five

Center for Security and Emerging Technology
| March 2024

In honor of CSET’s fifth birthday, this annual report is a look at CSET’s successes in 2023 and over the course of the past five years. It explores CSET’s different lines of research and cross-cutting projects, and spotlights some of its most impactful research products.

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Analysis

Trust Issues: Discrepancies in Trustworthy AI Keywords Use in Policy and Research

Emelia Probasco Kathleen Curlee Autumn Toney
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Policy and research communities strive to mitigate AI harm while maximizing its benefits. Achieving effective and trustworthy AI necessitates the establishment of a shared language. The analysis of policies across different countries and research literature identifies consensus on six critical concepts: accountability, explainability, fairness, privacy, security, and transparency.

This paper is the fifth installment in a series on “AI safety,” an area of machine learning research that aims to identify causes of unintended behavior in machine learning systems and develop tools to ensure these systems work safely and reliably. This paper explores the opportunities and challenges of building AI systems that “know what they don’t know.”

Analysis

Putting Teeth into AI Risk Management

Matthew Schoemaker
| May 2024

President Biden's October 2023 executive order prioritizes the governance of artificial intelligence in the federal government, prompting the urgent creation of AI risk management standards and procurement guidelines. Soon after the order's signing, the Office of Management and Budget issued guidance for federal departments and agencies, including minimum risk standards for AI in federal contracts. Similar to cybersecurity, procurement rules will be used to enforce AI development best practices for federal suppliers. This report offers recommendations for implementing AI risk management procurement rules.

Analysis

An Argument for Hybrid AI Incident Reporting

Ren Bin Lee Dixon Heather Frase
| March 2024

Artificial Intelligence incidents have been occurring with the rapid advancement of AI capabilities over the past decade. However, there is not yet a concerted policy effort in the United States to monitor, document, and aggregate AI incident data to enhance the understanding of AI-related harm and inform safety policies. This report proposes a federated approach consisting of hybrid incident reporting frameworks to standardize reporting practices and prevent missing data.

Formal Response

Comment on NIST RFI Related to the Executive Order Concerning Artificial Intelligence (88 FR 88368)

Mina Narayanan Jessica Ji Heather Frase
| February 2, 2024

On February 2, 2024, CSET's Assessment and CyberAI teams submitted a response to NIST's Request for Information related to the Executive Order Concerning Artificial Intelligence (88 FR 88368). In the submission, CSET compiles recommendations from six CSET reports and analyses in order to assist NIST in its implementation of AI Executive Order requirements.

CSET submitted the following comment in response to a Request for Comment (RFC) from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) about a draft memorandum providing guidance to government agencies regarding the appointment of Chief AI Officers, Risk Management for AI, and other processes following the October 30, 2023 Executive Order on AI.

Analysis

Repurposing the Wheel: Lessons for AI Standards

Mina Narayanan Alexandra Seymour Heather Frase Karson Elmgren
| November 2023

Standards enable good governance practices by establishing consistent measurement and norms for interoperability, but creating standards for AI is a challenging task. The Center for Security and Emerging Technology and the Center for a New American Security hosted a series of workshops in the fall of 2022 to examine standards development in the areas of finance, worker safety, cybersecurity, sustainable buildings, and medical devices in order to apply the lessons learned in these domains to AI. This workshop report summarizes our findings and recommendations.

Testimony

Advanced Technology: Examining Threats to National Security

Dewey Murdick
| September 19, 2023

CSET Executive Director Dr. Dewey Murdick testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Emerging Threats Subcommittee on challenges related to emerging technologies and national security.

This explainer defines criteria for effective AI Incident Collection and identifies tradeoffs between potential reporting models: mandatory, voluntary, and citizen reporting.

CSET submitted the following comment in response to a Request for Information (RFI) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) about the development of the newly established Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate, in accordance with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.