The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has introduced a new set of guidelines aimed at requiring companies to deploy %ArtificialIntelligence (AI) in a responsible manner and limit AI-based surveillance.
The guidelines, which are being referred to by the White House as an %AIBillOfRights, have been in development for more than a year but are not legally binding on companies.
However, the White House says it hopes to convince technology companies such as %Alphabet ($GOOGL) and %Microsoft ($MSFT) to take steps that will protect consumers as AI becomes more ubiquitous in our lives.
Specifically, the guidelines seek to address the risk of AI-based surveillance of ordinary citizens through devices installed in homes, motor vehicles, and places of work.
The White House guidelines are the latest attempt by governments at all levels in the U.S. to adopt rules regarding transparency and ethics in AI and include five core principles:
1. People should be protected from systems deemed “unsafe or ineffective.”
2. People shouldn’t be discriminated against via algorithms and that AI-driven systems should be made and used “in an equitable way.”
3. People should be kept safe “from abusive data practices” by safeguards built into AI systems and have control over how data about them is used.
4. People should be aware when an automated system is in use and be aware of how it could affect them.
5. People should be able to opt out of such systems “where appropriate” and get help from a person instead of a computer.
Currently, there are no federal laws in the U.S. that regulate the use of AI or its applications, including in areas such as %FacialRecognition software, which has been criticized by privacy and civil rights groups for targeting minorities and leading to wrongful arrests.
A handful of U.S. states have adopted rules related to AI. Illinois, for example, has a law known as the “Biometric Information Privacy Act” (BIPA) that forces companies to get permission from people before collecting biometric data such as fingerprints or facial scans.
While some privacy and technology advocates praised the new AI guidelines issued by the White House, others criticized the Biden administration for not making them legally binding.