President Donald Trump is expected to sign an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan with a goal to keep the United States at the forefront of AI development.
On Jan. 23, Trump signed Executive Order No. 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” which directed federal officials to develop an action plan for achieving policies to sustain and enhance America‘s dominance in AI. The federal plan is expected to be unveiled July 23, along with Trump’s address with an outline of his vision for AI in America, as reported by National Law Review.
Other developments in AI at state and federal levels have led up to the unveiling of an Action Plan, including the White House‘s announcement on July 15 that $90 billion will be invested in energy and data centers in Pennsylvania.
“The president’s recent visit to Pennsylvania, where he highlighted companies’ $92 billion investments to promote AI initiatives in the state, shows how the administration is positioning itself alongside tech leaders to make the U.S. the global leader in artificial intelligence. These investments, including infrastructure such as hydroelectric dams and data centers, underscore the perceived political and business stakes of the global AI competition between the U.S. and China,” Cayce Myers, who teaches public relations at Virginia Tech’s School of Communication, said. Myers also leads the department as its director.
Upon release of the Action Plan, Trump is expected to sign another executive order to execute the plan. He is expected to also sign at least two other new executive orders that will address data center development, financial resources and perceived political bias.
Author of “Artificial Intelligence and Law in the Communication Professions,” “Profession and Money in Politics: Campaign Fundraising in the 2020 Presidential Election” and “Campaigns, Inc.,” Myers’ work focuses on media history, political communication and laws that affect public relations practice.
According to Myers, AI development policy and other political issues have previously blended together for the Trump Administration, especially involving perceived political bias.
“Some news outlets have reported that the administration will release an executive order mandating that federal AI contractors’ AI outputs remain politically neutral and not produce results that may be perceived as promoting political viewpoints or engaging in ‘woke’ perspectives. Though controversial, this order falls in line with the position the administration has taken on issues of left-leaning political bias within technology and media writ large,” Myers said.
Trump’s order may affect the development of AI technology by raising questions about how can AI systems guarantee certain biased outputs will not be produced. For users who receive federal contracts, Myers said, the order will directly impact the type of output generated with AI platforms.
“It also underscores how artificial intelligence chatbots and outputs are not viewed as apolitical technology but rather are framed as systems that are increasingly scrutinized for their own intentional or unintentional political perspectives,” Myers said.
Trump was the first American president to issue an executive order regarding AI. On February 11, 2019, he signed No. 13859, “Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence” and announced a U.S. policy “to sustain and enhance the scientific, technological and economic leadership position of the United States in AI R&D and deployment.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
