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PCAST Briefs Biden on AI Risks and Opportunities

APR 10, 2023
Mitch Ambrose headshot
Director of Science Policy News American Institute of Physics
President Biden with Arati Prabhakar

President Biden’s science adviser Arati Prabhakar, left, speaks at an April 4 meeting of the president’s science advisory council.

(The White House)

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology met privately with President Biden last week to discuss “the opportunities and the risks of artificial intelligence,” according to brief public remarks Biden delivered prior to the event.

Biden also highlighted the blueprint for an “AI Bill of Rights” the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued last year, proposing ways to ensure AI technologies do not compromise civil rights or democratic values.

OSTP Director Arati Prabhakar, who co-chairs PCAST, elaborated on the administration’s approach to AI in a speech at the Summit for Democracy Biden convened on March 30, where she announced the launch of a Trustworthy and Responsible Artificial Intelligence Resource Center that builds on the AI Risk Management Framework the National Institute of Standards and Technology released early this year. She also said the administration is aiming to create a National AI Research Resource that would provide shared computational resources and data sets to AI researchers.

“Today, leading-edge AI research and development is being driven by deep-pocketed companies. We need AI to do much more than just serve business interests. We need applications that will also serve the public good,” Prabhakar said.

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