Commerce Data Governance Board Announces New Generative AI Working Group

The Commerce Data Governance Board, under the Department of Commerce, has launched the Artificial Intelligence and Open Government Data Assets Working Group, an entity tasked with creating guidelines for publishing commerce data that can be used by generative AI technologies.

The working group will investigate generative AI’s ability to advance the department’s goal to “expand opportunity and discovery through data” and identify risks associated with generative AI’s tendency to return inaccurate or falsified data to users. The working group will also make the department’s data machine-readable and machine-understandable, ensuring that AI solutions can better interpret information.

Other tasks to be undertaken by the working group include open data technical guidance publication and engagements with the industry, academia and other partners in the public data realm, the Department of Commerce said Thursday.

Several government agencies have also developed generative AI guidelines to support their internal processes.

In December, the National Science Foundation announced a plan to create new generative AI guidelines for the agency’s merit review process. The guidelines prevent NSF reviewers from uploading proposal content, records and other information to non-approved generative AI solutions and encourage project proponents to identify how they would use generative AI in their proposals.

The Department of Homeland Security also created guidance helping employees use commercially available generative AI solutions.