At a time when industry and civil rights groups are still trying to get new AI rules off the ground, House lawmakers are pressing federal agencies to immediately and aggressively implement artificial intelligence technology.
Several budget proposals were presented this week by the House Appropriations Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, and which encourages the federal government to employ AI for anything from everyday office tasks to the detection of pests and illnesses in crops to national security activities. According to the legislation that the committee is still debating, several of those initiatives are not only supported, but would also receive new financing amounting to millions of dollars.
Legislators appear committed to ensuring that the government is using AI where it can, even if comprehensive AI regulations are probably still months away from being created and are unlikely to be created this year. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., vice chair of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus, said agencies shouldn’t have to wait to start employing AI. The legislation are supported by the GOP majority.
He told Fox News Digital, “We should assist federal agencies leveraging the benefits of AI, as it has shown to be a powerful tool and will continue to be a vital asset for our government agencies. For technological undertakings, “the Departments of Energy and Defence, for example, have been leveraging AI to enhance precision and accomplish tasks beyond human capabilities.”
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Beyer continued by stating that he is “encouraged” by the promises made by some organisations to guarantee the ethical use of AI, such as those made by the Department of Defence and intelligence organisations.
Language that would support AI and machine learning capabilities to assist with reviewing cargo shipments at U.S. ports and for port inspections is included in the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
The bill’s report language states that delays in the incorporation of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomy into the programme force CBP Officers to manually evaluate hundreds of photos in search of anomalies. “Automation increases the interdiction of narcotics that move through the nation’s [ports of entry] and reduces the likelihood that narcotics and other contraband will be missed.”
The proposed legislation pushes DHS to deploy “commercial, off-the-shelf artificial intelligence capabilities” to enhance government efforts to stop people and cargo from entering the country. Additionally, it requests that DHS look into employing AI at the Transportation Security Agency, to help guarantee that the correct illegal aliens are deported, and to enforce the border.
The defence department funding bill from the committee issues a warning that the Pentagon is not adopting AI technologies quickly enough.
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“Capabilities such as automation, artificial intelligence, and other novel business practices—which are readily adopted by the private sector—are often ignored or under-utilized across the Department’s business operations,” the research stated. “This bill acts quickly to address this problem.”
The bill requests that DOD look into using AI to “significantly reduce or eliminate manual processes across the department,” among other things, and claims that this is a justification for a $1 billion reduction in the civilian defence workforce.
The bill also calls on DOD to hire more student interns with AI experience and report on how it can evaluate its AI adoption efforts.
Financed under the expenditure bill In order to improve House operations, Congress itself has asked legislative staff to investigate how AI may be utilised to develop closed captioning services for hearings.
The Department of Agriculture is likewise in need of AI, according to House lawmakers. The bill, among other things, promotes the use of AI and machine learning to detect pests and illnesses in crops and supports continuing work to utilise AI for “precision agriculture and food system security.” It also increases funding for AI in an agricultural research programme conducted by the United States and Israel.
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The push to increase the use of AI by the government is being made amid mounting pressure on Congress to swiftly enact regulations governing this still-emerging but already widely utilised technology. A number of hearings on the subject have been held by lawmakers in the House and Senate, during which suggestions for an AI commission and a new federal agency to oversee AI have been made.
However, despite the urgency, Congress is still moving slowly. Insinuating that Congress might not enact an AI regulatory plan until next year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, stated last week that he still intended to take several months to gather input.
He stated last week, “Later this autumn, I will gather the foremost experts in AI here in Congress for a series of AI Insight Forums to lay down a new framework for AI policy.”
Republicans have made it clear that they intend to advance financing bills for fiscal year 2024 on schedule this year, which means finishing by the summer. The full committee is anticipated to take up this and other spending proposals in the following months.
