FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC – The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) submitted its first-quarter recommendations to the President and Congress today related to artificial intelligence (AI) and national security. Commissioners deliberated on and approved the recommendations via a virtual review process due to the in-person meeting restrictions associated with the COVID-19 corona virus pandemic. The full set of recommendations are available here.
The Commission reviewed and approved 43 recommendations for both the Executive and Legislative branches. The recommendations focused on areas the Commissioners identified as being in the most need of immediate attention, ripe for action, or foundational to AI and national security issues. They spanned AI-related topics such as research and development, national security applications, workforce and training, hardware, 5G networks, cooperation with allies and partners, and ethical and responsible use.
NSCAI Chair Eric Schmidt said, “the AI space is changing rapidly, and the 43 recommendations we approved during this first quarter are critical first steps the legislative and executive branches can take to foster AI developments that will serve the interests of the American people, protect our national security, and uphold American values.”
NSCAI recommended steps to: increase funding for non-defense R&D; create a national infrastructure to fuel AI research; establish leadership mechanisms to accelerate AI applications in the DoD; increase the AI talent pool inside the DoD by changing technologist hiring practices and talent management processes; properly resource U.S. AI hardware and 5G efforts; deepen our AI cooperation with key allies and partners; and help ensure national security departments and agencies develop, procure, and use AI responsibly.
Commissioner Jason Matheny said, “as we approve recommendations to submit to Congress and the President, it is important for the Commission to continue its outreach to stakeholders and to raise awareness among Americans about the role AI plays in national security and in the future of our country.”
The Commission is an independent federal entity, and its goal is to complement and strengthen ongoing AI-related efforts in the Executive Branch and Congress, while also making additional recommendations to integrate artificial intelligence into national security programs. The Commission and its staff have received numerous classified and unclassified briefings since the Commission began work in March 2019 and they will continue to reach out to academia, industry, non-profits, associations, government, and others to gather information and formulate recommendations for the final report.
The full list of recommendations and materials related to the recommendations are available on the Commission’s website at www.nscai.gov.
###