US agencies not complying with AI laws and rules; maybe a bot would help

An audit of AI implementations by major departments of the U.S. government has found that not all planned, in-production or in-use algorithms adhere to White House safety and transparency requirements.

The audit was conducted by the Congress’ Government Accountability Office, which examines operations of the legislative branch. It suggested 35 recommendations.

GAO officials looked at current and planned uses of AI by 23 agencies. They also wanted to see how accurate and complete AI reporting is and how closely agencies complied with AI laws, policies and guidance.

Of the 23 agencies asked to inventory their AI use cases (in production and in use), only three said they have no use for AI. The other 20 reported 1,200 current and planned AI use cases. Of those, 200 algorithms were in use.

While the audit was interested in AI activity in general, a number of the agencies and departments, including NASA, State and Health and Human Services, are involved with biometric systems.

The Department of Homeland Security has deployed facial recognition and is developing more code. NASA and the Commerce Department had the most AI use cases.

A top concern for GAO is that there is no common federal definition for AI. That was apparent when it was learned that projects by agencies did not involve AI.

Meeting all recommendations would put agencies in compliance, according to the GAO’s report.

Fifteen agencies need to bring their AI use case inventories up to date by including information required to be reported and aligning data with government guidance.

Other agencies that interact with all other agencies (including the Office of Management and Budget) need to be more active in issuing guidance.

And 12 agencies have to catch up with their responsibilities. They have to implement AI governance requirements, including creating a plan for conducting annual inventory updates.

GAO has previously found that agencies were using facial recognition from non-federal partners without knowing exactly who those partners were, and has urged DHS to implement its recommendations on biometrics.

Article Topics

AI  |  biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  GAO (Government Accountability Office)  |  U.S. Government