NIST launches public working group aimed at generative AI
The National Institute of Standards and Technology will create a new public working group focused on generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced on Thursday.
The hope is that the new group, which is expected to include leaders from the private and public sectors, will play a part in cultivating the technology — while also clamping down on its challenges.
The new working group will focus on several objectives related to generative AI, including developing new ways to evaluate and measure the technology’s effectiveness. The group will also help create guidance for using NIST’s AI risk management framework, which was crafted to inform the development of the technology.
Eventually, the group is expected to analyze how generative AI tools could help address some of the biggest challenges facing the country today, including climate change, according to a press release released by NIST on Thursday.
“This new group is especially timely considering the unprecedented speed, scale and potential impact of generative AI and its potential to revolutionize many industries and society more broadly,” Laurie E. Locascio, NIST director and Commerce undersecretary for standards and technology, said in a statement. “We want to identify and develop tools to better understand and manage those risks, and we hope to attract broad participation in this new group.”
The creation of the group represents he latest in the Biden administration’s AI agenda, which seeks to balance the opportunities and challenges created by the technology. The president met with AI experts earlier this week, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced his plan to regulate — and develop — AI on Wednesday.
The National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee, which was created by NIST last year, released its first report on Thursday, as well.
