AI advisory role

NIST Hires Mark Latonero as Senior Adviser for AI, International Cooperation

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has hired Mark Latonero as senior adviser for artificial intelligence and international cooperation.

In a post on LinkedIn, Latonero said he will focus on managing the risks and impacts of AI while helping NIST collaborate with international standards and policy organizations.

Latonero is currently a research professor at Georgetown University. He was previously a senior consultant to the United Nations’ Executive Office of the Secretary General, FedScoop reported.

He helped the office develop policies for human rights due diligence for digital technology use across the U.N., according to his LinkedIn profile.

Latonero served as a senior policy adviser at the Partnership for AI, a nonprofit organization that develops tools and recommendations for the responsible use of AI technology.

From 2020 until the end of 2021, Latonero served as a non-residential senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank working to address national security challenges.

He advised the organization’s Human Rights Initiative on emerging technology policy and AI governance, according to his profile.

Latonero also spent nearly four years advising the U.N. Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights on the risks of technology business models.

His appointment comes as NIST drafts a framework on the adoption of AI technology across the federal government.

NIST’s draft Special Publication 1270 is aimed at helping developers identify and manage biases in AI algorithms. The agency expects its proposed framework to drive standards and a risk-based framework for responsible AI.