The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) Final Report is both inspiring and chilling. It paints the promise for artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the human experience for the good by accelerating “game-changing” discoveries. From breathtaking innovations in biology and pharmaceuticals to advances in food production and energy, AI can revolutionize daily life and improve the world around us. However, the report also underscores how AI can be used with malicious intent in the pursuit of power. From cyber threats to disinformation campaigns or China’s increasing use of AI to control its population, AI without values, responsibility, and transparency brings sobering implications for humanity.
As with any emerging industry or technology, those in the lead set the standards. Today, the United States is in the AI leadership position, and, as a result, many of the nation’s values and principles permeate current applications of AI worldwide. But adversaries are taking action, and China has committed to seizing that lead from the United States within a decade. If this happens, the United States risks losing the ability to shape the AI of the future around democratic values. In addition, given how integral AI is to the future—permeating every aspect of life—the nation could see its global influence in the economic arena, international security, and technological innovation disappear.
As such, one might view the report as a call to action only for the agencies most traditionally associated with national security—the Department of Defense (DOD) and the intelligence community. But a challenge this demanding requires a comprehensive response that, as the report cites, deeply involves federal civilian agencies as well.