News That Caught Our Eye #41

Published on January 1, 1970

Summary

New This Week! The Biden Administration's swan song on AI policy arrived this week with two executive orders - one on AI infrastructure and another on cybersecurity. Meanwhile, New Jersey broke ground with guidance on algorithmic discrimination under state law, and InnovateUS launched a free workshop series exploring AI's role in revolutionizing reading instruction. Read on for these stories and more in our latest roundup.

Governing AI

Beyond AI Regulation: New Executive Orders Show Government Embracing AI as Infrastructure

Beth Simone Noveck on January 17, 2025 in Reboot Democracy

“The Biden Administration has issued two significant executive orders this week that signal an important evolution in how the U.S. government approaches artificial intelligence. Coming in the final days of the administration, these orders represent a capstone to Biden's technology policy. While much attention has focused on AI regulation and risk management, these orders—including a January 16th order on innovation in cybersecurity and a January 14th order on AI infrastructure—represent something different: recognition that AI capability is becoming critical infrastructure for effective governance. However, the framing in national security terms—with a focus on ensuring competitiveness with China and advancing economic competitiveness globally—missed an opportunity to bolster technology’s role in strengthening democratic institutions, improving governance and public service delivery.” Read the Executive Order on Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation’s Cybersecurity and the Executive Order on Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure.

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Governing AI

New Jersey Issues Landmark Guidance on AI and Algorithmic Discrimination

Beth Simone Noveck on January 13, 2025 in Reboot Democracy

“The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights has released comprehensive guidance clarifying that the state's Law Against Discrimination (LAD) applies with full force to artificial intelligence and automated decision-making tools. The guidance, issued in January 2025, makes one thing crystal clear: whether discrimination comes from human decisions or AI algorithms, it's still illegal.” Read the full release here: Guidance on Algorithmic Discrimination and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination

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Governing AI

What are the challenges facing the government's AI action plan?

Marc Cieslak and Matt Murphy on January 13, 2025 in BBC

“AI needs powerful data centres to work, but Google warned in a report in September that the UK faced being ‘left behind’ if it didn't expand its network of such facilities. Sir Keir has now pledged to speed up planning permission for new centres and to ‘remove the blockages’ that hold companies back from building them. But Dr Stephanie Hare, an AI expert said the current minimal economic growth and the spiralling cost of borrowing made it hard to see how these new centres would be funded.”

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AI for Governance

Agents for the few, queues for the many – or agents for all?

Tiago C. Peixoto & Luke Jordan on December 16, 2024 in Reboot Democracy

“If AI development continues and public sector services fail to evolve, inequalities in access will only grow. AI agents – capable of handling tasks like forms filling and queries – have the potential to transform access to public services. But rather than embracing this potential, the public sector risks turning a blind eye – or worse, banning these tools outright – leaving those without resources even further behind.”

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AI for Governance

When AI Meets Reality: California's Wildfire Detection System

Beth Simone Noveck on January 12, 2025 in Reboot Democracy

“... the Palisades Fire exposes a crucial reality: technology alone cannot overcome natural forces. When Santa Ana winds topped 100 mph, spreading embers across brush and homes, even the most sophisticated AI detection system proved inadequate. As UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain noted in a (pay-walled) article in Forbes: ‘Under conditions like this, you may have as little as 60 seconds from when the fire ignites to essentially when it's not controllable.’”

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AI for Governance

Massachusetts AI Models Innovation Challenge

Governor Maura Healey on January 13, 2025 in The Innovation Institute at the MassTech Collaborative

This week, applications opened for The Massachusetts AI Models Innovation Challenge –”a grant program designed to inspire the development of domain-specific AI models capable of catalyzing scientific discoveries, accelerating commercialization of AI applications or generating substantial public benefits. The Challenge seeks to fund projects that develop, fine-tune or adapt AI models to unlock breakthroughs in priority industry sectors with potential for significant downstream applications within the next three years.” Applications are open through February 28th, 2025.

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AI for Governance

Maryland Submits AI Strategy, Guide to General Assembly

News Staff on January 14, 2025 in Government Technology, News Staff

“‘The AI road map charts a course for the state of Maryland in 2025, helping it accelerate the pace of AI adoption while considering the unique assets, opportunities and risks present in Maryland,’ DoIT Secretary Katie Savage, chair of the AI Subcabinet, said in a statement Tuesday… the AI Roadmap aims to increase AI experimentation, iteration and adoption.”

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AI and Elections

Why AI Did Not Upend the Super Year of Elections

Kevin Frazier on January 2, 2025 in Lawfare

“Many AI labs, which include nonprofit, for-profit, and academic entities dedicated to researching and developing new AI systems, have taken it upon themselves to reduce the odds of electoral disruption resulting from their tools. As the creators of the latest and most widely adopted models, labs have comparatively more control over how their tools may be used and by whom.”

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AI and International Relations

Biden's late moves on China, Russia, AI may mostly boost Trump

Andrea Shalal and Trevor Hunnicutt on January 15, 2025 in Reuters

“In less than a week, the Biden White House has sanctioned Russian oil producers and ships, restricted semiconductor chip exports, found Chinese shipbuilding practices unfair, ceded federal land for AI centers and cemented plans to effectively bar Chinese vehicles. With his last-minute announcements, Biden is ‘trying to shape how history will remember him,’ said Robert Rowland, a University of Kansas professor who specializes in presidential rhetoric. In doing so, ‘he's giving Trump a lot of leverage,’ he said, adding that Biden may not be helping himself.

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AI and Public Engagement

Hybrid intelligence for the public sector: A bibliometric analysis of artificial intelligence and crowd intelligence

Helen K. Liu, MuhChuyun Tang, Antoine Serge J. Collard on January 10, 2025 in Science Direct

“... our review shows that, while the designs of AI can enable efficient workflows and task segments for CI [crowd intelligence], the advancement of AI is based on the quality of the data extracted from CI, as shown in the examples in smart cities (Internet of Things), personnel management, social media, and governance.”

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