The United States unveiled Thursday a memorandum to address national security risks posed by artificial intelligence, a year after President Joe Biden issued an executive order on regulating the technology. The National Security Memorandum (NSM) seeks to thread the needle between harnessing the technology to counter the military use of AI by adversaries such as China while building effective safeguards that uphold public trust. Last October, Biden ordered the National Security Council and the White House Chief of Staff to develop the memorandum. The instruction came as he issued an executive order on regulating AI, aiming for the United States to "lead the way" in global efforts to manage the technology's risks. In this context, the U.S. government is concerned about China's use of artificial intelligence to repress its population, spread misinformation and undermine the security of the United States and its allies, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. Sullivan told an e vent at the National Defense University that a new U.S. directive on AI was intended in part to help address those concerns, and to help offer alternatives to developing economies and other partners around the world. "We know that China is building its own technological ecosystem with digital infrastructure that won't protect sensitive data, that can enable mass surveillance and censorship, that can spread misinformation and that can make countries vulnerable to coercion," he said. "This is our nationÂ's first-ever strategy for harnessing the power and managing the risks of AI to advance our national security," The framework directs national security agencies to expand their use of the most advanced AI systems while also prohibiting certain uses, such as applications that would violate constitutionally protected civil rights or any system that would automate the deployment of nuclear weapons. Other provisions encourage AI research and call for improved security of the nation's computer chip supply chain. T he rules also direct intelligence agencies to prioritize work to protect the American industry from foreign espionage campaigns. The guidelines were created following an ambitious executive order signed by President Joe Biden last year that called on federal agencies to create policies for how AI could be used. Sullivan said the AI is different from past innovations that were largely developed by the government: space exploration, the internet and nuclear weapons and technology. Instead, the development of AI systems has been led by the private sector. Now, he said, it is "poised to transform our national security landscape." AI is already reshaping how national security agencies manage logistics and planning, improve cyber defenses and analyze intelligence, Sullivan said. Other applications may emerge as the technology develops, he said. Source: Kuwait News Agency
