IC Releases Guidelines for Responsible AI Development

The Intelligence Community has released guidelines on how intelligence agencies can ethically and responsibly develop and use artificial intelligence technologies. 

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said the principles will help intelligence agency leaders and data scientists as they leverage technology in solving intelligence problems, The Hill reported Thursday.

“The IC leads in developing and using technology crucial to our national security mission, and we cannot do so without recognizing and acting on its ethical implications,” Ratcliffe said in a statement. 

Dean Souleles, founder of the DNI office's Augmenting Intelligence through Machines Innovation Hub, noted that IC agencies use AI when dealing with an "increasingly complex digital world."

He added that one of IC's most important functions is to analyze disparate data, infer meaning from them and make analytical judgments.  

"AI provides powerful tools to execute this mission, but also brings new challenges. That makes it even more important that we do so in ways that are both ethical and consistent with our values,” Souleles said in a statement. 

IC announced the guidelines on the same day that the Bipartisan Policy Center released documents on the use of AI in workplaces and the technology's integration into educational programs.

The center is expected to roll out three other white papers in the following weeks as part of its plan to develop a national AI strategy.

“AI is the future of the world’s economy, and we want to ensure that every American worker has the opportunity to thrive in an AI-driven economy,” said Rep. Will Hurd, one of the white paper's proponents and a two-time Wash100 awardee.