The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) just released a Request For Information (RFI) on Artificial Intelligence.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies offer great promise for creating new and innovative products, growing the economy, and advancing national priorities in areas such as education, mental and physical health, addressing climate change, and more. Like any transformative technology, however, AI carries risks and presents complex policy challenges along a number of different fronts. The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is interested in developing a view of AI across all sectors for the purpose of recommending directions for research and determining challenges and opportunities in this field. The views of the American people, including stakeholders such as consumers, academic and industry researchers, private companies, and charitable foundations, are important to inform an understanding of current and future needs for AI in diverse fields. The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback on overarching questions in AI, including AI research and the tools, technologies, and training that are needed to answer these questions.
This comes after last month’s OSTP announcement of a series workshops as a part of a new White House Future of Artificial Intelligence initiative. Since making that announcement, OSTP has co-hosted two public workshops on opposite ends of the country—the first one Artificial Intelligence: Law and Policy in Seattle, WA, and the second one Artificial Intelligence for Social Good co-hosted by the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) in Washington, DC. Today, the third workshop is going on in Pittsburgh to discuss safety and control for AI. The fourth and final workshop will be in New York City on July 7 to explore AI’s social and economic implications.
Responses to the RFI must be received by July 22, 2016 to be considered. For more information, please see this website.