A potential catalyst for responsible private sector innovation

The Biden administration’s executive order on AI is an important step toward steering the fast-moving AI sector toward responsible development. Its impact will largely depend on how the private sector reacts to its incentives and enforceability.

The order rightly focuses on safeguarding societal and consumer interests, such as identifying misleading or deceptive AI-generated content. However, an effective technological solution to this critical issue is still needed. Ideally, this directive will serve as a catalyst for investments in this space. Similarly, the inclusion of the National AI Research Resource pilot has the potential to democratize AI advancements, reducing reliance on major tech companies and encouraging innovations that prioritize societal benefits.

I welcome the executive order’s focus on immediate-term societal risks, especially its efforts to empower the government to enforce existing anti-discrimination laws. These efforts should incentivize developers to build these protections into their systems by design rather than consider them after the fact. However, effective enforcement will only be feasible if agencies are adequately equipped for this work. The executive order attempts to address this by attracting the desperately needed AI talent to government positions, but more needs to be done to facilitate interagency coordination to avoid fragmented policymaking and inconsistent enforcement.

Lastly, the order wisely aims to relax immigration barriers for skilled AI professionals, a bipartisan issue often overlooked yet strongly advocated for by the private sector. Nevertheless, equal emphasis should be placed on domestic education and retraining programs to create a comprehensive talent pipeline and support today’s workforce.

—Rachel Gillum is a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. She is also vice president of Ethical and Humane Use of Technology at Salesforce and served as a commissioner on the Commission on Artificial Intelligence Competitiveness, Inclusion, and Innovation.

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