News That Caught Our Eye
NIST unveils strategic vision for AI safety work
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology released a new guiding document for the operations of its recently created AI Safety Institute. The three focal goals of the new body’s strategy: “advance the science of AI safety; articulate, demonstrate and disseminate the practices of AI safety; and support institutions and entities coordinating AI safety protocols.” One of the key challenges the Institute hopes to address is the noticeable lack of global standards and testing metrics to effectively evaluate safety in AI systems,
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VA is already using AI to identify and assist veterans in crisis, officials say
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ chief veterans experience officer, the VA has already identified over 100 potential use-cases for AI to enhance the department’s work on behalf of veterans – including deploying “new and enhanced programs for identifying retired servicemembers at risk of suicide and those facing homelessness or drug addiction,” such as their REACH VET program that is newly AI-enabled.
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Supercharging Science: AI and High-Performance Computing’s Potential in Federal Research
Revisit this (Microsoft-sponsored) article about AI and high-performance computing, which argues that AI’s capabilities to expand and speed-up modeling and analysis should be integrated into HPC to enhance computing potential in federal research. Some proposed applications include superpowering analysis within climate science, drug discovery, chemistry and materials sciences, and other federal research.
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How the ‘third wave’ of AI is transforming government operations
Microsoft’s Dr. William Chappell, VP and CTO of Microsoft’s Strategic Missions and Technologies Division, spoke at AITalks in April about the ongoing “third wave” of AI – particularly, about “the progression from ‘bespoke to foundational AI’ and how it drives scientific discovery and enhances cybersecurity across the government.” He points to a series of Microsoft partnerships with government, laying out how the current capacities of AI are allowing for successful use-cases in government service delivery.
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Using AI in economic development: Challenges and opportunities
As part of its ongoing recommendations on AI integration, McKinsey’s recent article lays out how five key economic development areas may particularly benefit from incorporation of AI technologies: globally competitive value chains, investment attraction and trade support programs, future of work programs, economic ‘nowcasting’ and forecasting, and transforming public services with geographic information systems and spatial data. By focusing on data, talent, and trust, McKinsey argues global development organizations can accelerate their AI adoption.
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San Jose AI Initiative Boosts Accessibility, but by How Much?
The City of San Jose is considering new uses for AI, after they recently launched a tool that can supposedly provide real-time AI transcription of City Council meetings in more than 50 languages. The city is now revisiting the tool to gather public input and feedback on the tool, including whether there has been an increase in residents using the software to actually speak at City Council meetings in their first languages.
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EU’s ChatGPT taskforce offers first look at detangling the AI chatbot’s privacy compliance
The European Data Protection Board’s ChatGPT taskforce has released preliminary conclusions on how European Union’s data protection rulebook may apply to the OpenAI chatbot – notably, the report shows continued disagreement among privacy enforcers on crucial legal issues, ranging from fairness and lawfulness to compliance and violations enforcement. TechCrunch author Natasha Lomas predicts that the lack of clarity will only empower OpenAI and other developers to continue business as usual.
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Colorado Springs Chatbot Is Powered by AI, City Data
The city of Colorado Springs recently launched AskCOS, an AI-enabled chatbot trained only on data from the city government and city’s official website. AskCOS can answer constituent questions “on topics ranging from finding parks that are wheelchair accessible to finding out when and where City Council meetings are held,” and can also reportedly respond to users in 71 languages. The city will continuously examine asked questions and given responses to improve the tool.
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‘First federal CIO’ gives 3 reality checks on governmental AI
Former IT administrator for the federal Office of Management and Budget, Mark Forman, takes issue with what he labels “major shortfalls” in OMB’s guidance on agency usage of AI to improve government services. His major recommendations include tying government AI initiatives to strategic needs, using a “know your customer” approach, and articulating a vision beyond just compliance. Read Forman’s full commentary, “We need an AI strategy for the federal government,” on the Federal News Network.
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