House Defense Department and Homeland Security officials on their use of Artificial Intelligence technology. They addressed ai Machine Learning, employee training, and potential Cyber Security risks before a House Oversight and accountability subcommittee. This is just over one hour. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] i would like to recognize myself of the purpose of making an opening statement. Good afternoon and welcome to the hearing on the subcommittee on Cyber SecurityInformation Technology and government innovation. At the very first hearing of the subcommittee held earlier this year, expert witnesses told us Artificial Intelligence or ai is likely to bring Disruptive Innovation in many fields and it could and skip eight economic growth, Higher Standards of living an improved medical outcomes in virtually every industry and institution will field the impact of ai. Today we will discuss the impact on the largest most powerful institution in the nation, the federal government. As we know the government today performs an everexpanding swath of activities from securing the homeland to predicting the weather to cutting back benefits checks and many of these functions could be greatly impacted by ai. That is clear from the cases posted by federal agencies pursuant to an executive order issued under the last administration. Federal agencies are attempting to use ai systems to enhance border security, to make air travel safer and to speed up eligibility determinations for Social Security disability benefits, just to name a few cases. Ai will also shake up the federal workforce itself. We hear a lot about how ai could disrupt the private sector workforce transforming our aura limiting jobs or creating others. While the federal government is the nations largest employer and many employees work in whitecollar occupations, ai is reshaping because it can perform many routine tasks more efficiently than humans. That will allow federal employees to focus on higher order work and maximizes productivity. In fact, a study says the use of ai to automate tasks for federal employees could eventually yield as much as 41 billion in annual savings by reducing required labor hours. A separate study by the partnership for Public Service and the ibm center for the business of government identified hundred 30,000 federal employee positions whose work would likely be impacted by ai, including 20,000 irs tax examiners and agents. That of course begs the question whether we need to hire tens of thousands of new irs employees when ai can transform even or replace the work of much of its current staff. I think every american could agree with that. Ai can make work better but it is still just a tool, be it an incredibly powerful one. It can easily be abused when used for the wrong purposes or without the proper guardrails. Ai systems are often fueled by massive troves of Training Data with complex algorithms. These algorithms can yield results in their own designers are unable to predict and struggle to explain sometimes. And we are learning this in real time. So its important we have safeguards to prevent federal government and exercising inappropriate bias. We also need to ensure the federal governments use of ai does not intrude on the privacy rights of its own citizens. The bottom line is we need the government to harness ai to improve its operations while safeguarding against potential hazards. Thats why congress enacted the ai and Government Act in december of 2020 soon after the current nmc patient took office. That law requires the office of management and budget issue guidance to agencies of the acquisition and use of ai systems. Also tasks the office of personal management with assessing federal ai workforce needs. The administration is way overdue in complying with the law. Its no more than two years behind schedule and issuing guidance to agencies and opm is more than overdue in determining how many employees have ai skills and how many need to be hired or trained up. I will also say in the cybersecurity plan before it was made public, i asked the question pointedly to the administration of ai was included at the time and it was not. It was mentioned three times fleetingly, very casually in that document today. The administrations failure to comply with these statutory mandates was called out in a lengthy white paper issued by Stanford University ai institute. The papers authors also found that many agencies had not posted the record ai use case inventories. Others had admitted key use cases including dhs and an important facial recognition program. The paper summed up the noncompliance with various mandates by concluding americas ai ecosystem is certain by imitation of these legal requirements. Most of the ai policy debate is focused on how the federal government should police the use of ai by the private sector, but the executive branch cant lose focus from getting its own house in order. It needs to appropriately manage its own use of ai systems consistent with the law. The subcommittee will keep insisting the Administration Carry out laws designed to safeguard government use of ai. Im developing further legislation to ensure federal agencies appoint ai systems effectively, safely and transparently. We have a huge opportunity before us and i would love to see us harness the technology that is rapidly evolving. I expect this hearing will expect inform many of these efforts and with that, we are going to go to our witnesses and was Ranking Member conley comes in, we will give him time for his opening statement. Im pleased to introduce our witnesses for todays hearing. Our first witness is the director of the white house science and Technology Earning her the designation as a president s science adviser. She is also the first science adviser to be nominated to the president s cabinet. This is her first appearance as a witness before Congress Since her Senate Confirmation last year. We are pleased to have you here today. Im grateful that you showed up. I will tell you, not everybody does and they sometimes send the secretary, undersecretary or the assistant to the assistant and its refreshing to have someone actually sure that weve asked for and i want to thank you for your time today. Our second witness is dr. Craig martel, chief digital nai officer with the department of defense. Our third witness is mr. Eric eisen, chief Information Officer with the department of Homeland Security. We welcome everyone and are pleased to have all of you here this afternoon. So pursuant to Committee Rule 9g, the witnesses will please, if you will stand and raise your right hand. Do solemnly swear or affirm the testimony youre about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . Let the record show the witnesses all answered in the affirmative. We appreciate all of you being here today and look forward to hearing your testimony. I would like to remind the witnesses that we have your written statements and they will appear in full. Please keep your oral seems to five minutes. Press the button on your microphone so its on the members can hear you. When you begin to speak, the light infantry will turn green. After four minutes, the light will turn yellow and when the red light comes on, your five minutes is expired and we ask you to please wrap it up for us. All right. With that im going to yield to our Ranking Member of the subcommittee, mr. Connolly. Thank you madame chairwoman. I have three subcommittee hearings today and two caucus meetings, so im a little out of breath, but thank you for accommodating me. Earlier this week, majority leader Chuck Schumer held his inaugural Ai Insight Forum and senator hickenlooper held one for the need for transparency in Artificial Intelligence. Today our subcommittee returns for a second hearing on the ai to discuss is uses in our own federal government. I think its very clear all members of congress are interested. Im not sure is clear how much members of Congress Know about it. The subcommittee is proud to continue its historical leadership in the ai space. As many of you know, former subcommittee chair will heard held a threepart hearing series on Artificial Intelligence and late former chairman Elijah Cummings focused on facial recognition. These initiatives show that if done right, the federal government can leverage ai to better serve the public. For example, several federal agencies are already using Ai Technologies to cut costs, improve constituent services and strengthen existing systems. The United StatesCyber Command and department of Homeland Security for example employee Ai Technology to protect our networks from counter cyber attacks. United States Postal Service is currently piloting an Autonomous Vehicle project that employs Ai Technology. The department of housing and urban development and Immigration Services are using ai chat bots to facilitate communication with the public, looking for help from the agency. However, like all new tools, if used improperly, ai could result in unintended consequences. For example, Automated Systems can inadvertently perpetuate societal biases such as faulty facial Recognition Technology or opaque sentencing algorithms used by our criminal justice system. Ai can also threaten jobs, proliferate misinformation and raise serious privacy concerns. Thats why i applaud the Biden Administration for proactively taking significant steps to ensure transparency in the governments use of ai. Last october the white house released a blueprint for an ai bill of rights to ensure the protection of civil rights in the algorithmic age. Prior to that, the national Artificial IntelligenceInitiative Act codified the establishment of the American Ai Initiative and the National Advisory committee. The subcommittee looks forward to hearing an update from the panelists before us on the joint work with the secretary of commerce to advise the white house on that ai policy. Everybody can agree the government has a colossal responsibility in developing the necessary guardrails to curb the risk of this incredible technology, while allowing it to flourish. This committee must hold federal agencies accountable and make sure they are making appropriate choices about whether and when ai is right for their mission. The federal government must also intentionally train, recruit and maintain a workforce thats comfortable and confident with this technology. Thats why the chairwoman and i worked to pass the ai training expansion act of 2023, hr 4503. Out of our committee and would expand ai training within the executive branch. Really important. And i commend my colleague for that bipartisan collaboration. Ai is already changing the world around us in so many ways. And we need to step up to the challenge and mitigate the risk. Federal government needs to ensure this technology is created, deployed and used in a safe, ethical, productive and equitable manner. With that, i yield back. Thank you madame chairwoman. Thank you. I ask unanimous consent for representative clay higgins from louisiana to be waived onto the subcommittee for todays hearing for the purpose of asking questions. So without objection, so ordered. I would now like to recognize the witness to please begin your opening statement. Thank you so much, to you Ranking Member connolly and members of the subcommittee. Ive really appreciated the work that you all are doing on Artificial Intelligence and its great to be here with my colleagues and spend this time to focus on these important issues. I have three messages today and the first one is that ai is a top priority for President Biden. Hes very clear that this is one of the most powerful technologies of our times. When we look around the world, we can see that every nation is racing to use ai to build a future that is imbued with their own values and i think we can all agree that we do not want to live in a future that is defined by technology shaped by authoritarian regimes. Thats why the president is very clear that American Leadership in the world today requires American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. Second, for america to lead an ai, government has some core responsibilities and one of those, one set of those responsibilities is to manage the risks of ai, and your Opening Statements have noted, ais risks are broad because its applications are so broad and the source range from risks related to fraud and information integrity. They include risks related to safety and security. Risks associated with privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, and risks to jobs and the economy. Now, some of these risks can be addressed under existing laws and regulations. Some of these risks can be managed by making sure that government uses ai responsibly, and in some cases, we do expect legislation will be required. Thats about mitigating risks. The reason we are doing all of this work to manage risks is so that our country can seize this technology to build the future. And if you look at what companies are doing, they are racing to build better products and services to transform Industries Using ai. This is a technology that holds equally great promise for the work that government does for the american people. That then becomes the second core responsibility of government. I think both of you have spoken to that as well in your opening remarks youre going to hear from my colleagues about National Security and Homeland Security and theres a lot to be said there. Also briefly touch on the many other Important Services and the Public Purposes that our governments responsibility. When you look across federal government today, youll see that agencies are starting to use the insights that they can glean from these fast troves of data that they generate in the doing of their business. Ai technology is also changing the way Government Agencies interact with their citizens. It can speeded up, can just make those processes work much better. The examples are very wideranging. They include ai for weather prediction. They include ai to help us keep air travel safer. Ai is being used to speed up the processing of disability determinations. Its being used to improve how we process patent applications. Those are just some examples today. If you take a peek inside of labs around the country and look at what is happening with federally funded r d in the world of research and development, youll get a glimpse of where the future is going and ai is playing a huge role there as well because ai can enable the design of the materials that we need for advanced batteries, for hydrogen storage, those things are critical to our clean energy future. Ai can change the way that we predict disasters, the way that we implement plans for resilience as the climate changes. Ai can transform drug design. It can allow us to tailor Clinical Care to each individual patients needs. It can enable major advances in population health. Used responsibly, ai can help us deliver Better Outcomes and to create new possibilities for the american people. My third message for you and ill end with this is that the Bidenharris Administration is taking action to meet this moment. We have moved with urgency on a series of steps that started with the ai bill of rights that we published almost a year ago and i want to emphasize that especially in a time when technology is moving as fast as it is, it is so important to be clear about our values. About the importance of rights. About safety and security. About privacy. That was the Important Role of the ai bill of rights. Recently, because of the president s leadership, 15 companies have now made voluntary commitments to focus on safety, security and trustworthiness in their ai systems that they are developing and driving. Thats a companys responsabilities. Today the white house is working we are going to be voting soon if you could