Lawmakers Reintroduce Federal AI Legislation

A bipartisan group of lawmakers reintroduced the Artificial Intelligence in Government Act to provide technical expertise throughout agencies and develop federal AI policy. The office of Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said in a statement released Wednesday that Portman as well as Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Cory Gardner, R-Colo. and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., seek to improve federal agencies’ implementation of AI to provide better benefits to the general public. 

The 2019 AI in Government Act will mandate agencies to create governance plans to optimize AI technology for public use, create an AI advisory board for potential policy concerns and direct the Office of Personnel Management to identify potential AI-related government positions. The legislation will also establish a Center of Excellence under the General Services Administration for technical workforce matters, AI policy research and industry partnership opportunities. 

“This bipartisan legislation will help ensure our government understands the benefits and pitfalls of this technology as it engages in a responsible, accountable rollout of AI,” Portman noted. 

The legislation has received endorsements from various non-government organizations as well as Microsoft and Facebook.