An audit by the Department of Energy’s inspector general has recommended that DOE sustain focus on its funding requirements for the department’s compliance with the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 mandating the integration of artificial intelligence into DOE intelligence operations. The audit’s recommendations also included ensuring officials’ AI training and establishing procedures for reporting to Congress on AI optimization of internal workflows, DOE said.
The audit was primarily undertaken to determine the barriers hindering AI integration into the activities of the department’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. One of its findings showed that only one out of the 13 AI integration requirements set under the Intelligence Authorization Act has been defined by the Director of National Intelligence.
Barriers to AI Integration
The DOE pointed out that its intelligence unit cannot implement the rest of the act’s requirements without the DNI creating further policies and guidance.
Despite the hindrance, the department said its intelligence office had moved toward implementation of the technology through such efforts as planning for several AI systems and appointment of an official dedicated to overseeing AI adoption.
One of the recent intelligence-related AI activities in DOE involves the department’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The lab announced in June 2023 that it is seeking industry partners to develop and commercialize its new system using public key cryptography to detect AI-generated text.