Today, the U.S. Senate released its long-awaited roadmap for AI policy titled “Driving U.S. Innovation in Artificial Intelligence.” This report is the culmination of work by the Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Mike Rounds, Senator Martin Heinrich, and Senator Todd Young.
Throughout 2023, the Working Group hosted nine AI Insight Forums, bringing together over 150 experts from academia, industry, civil society, and government to discuss various aspects of AI policy. These forums addressed topics ranging from U.S. innovation in AI and workforce impacts to high-impact use cases, elections, privacy, intellectual property, risk management, and national security.
Among the many contributors to these forums was OpenMined’s Executive Director, Andrew Trask, who participated in the seventh forum focused on “Transparency, Explainability, Intellectual Property, and Copyright” held on November 29, 2023. His written statement, prepared ahead of the forum, can be viewed here.
The report highlights that many forum participants agreed:
- Transparency is essential throughout the AI lifecycle to enable proper oversight and risk reduction.
- Explainability in AI systems is crucial – users should be able to understand not just the outputs of AI systems but also how those outputs are reached.
- There’s an important role for the federal government in protecting intellectual property while supporting innovation.
Based on input from these forums, the AI Working Group encourages relevant Senate committees to:
- Consider developing legislation to establish a coherent approach to public-facing transparency requirements for AI systems.
- Review federal agency transparency requirements regarding AI deployment in the workplace.
- Consider policies related to training data transparency, especially for sensitive or copyrighted data.
This report represents an important step toward comprehensive AI policy in the United States, with transparency and explainability serving as foundational principles for responsible AI development. OpenMined welcomes continued engagement on the topic from United States policymakers, as well as policymakers around the world who are interested in ensuring transparency and explainability provisions remain a crucial component of any AI legislation and regulation.
