US Department of Homeland Security Chief: When it comes to AI, government must move as quickly as companies
The head of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has called on government agencies to be faster and more flexible in developing and using AI tools.
Speaking at the Dreamforce 2024 event in San Francisco, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas noted that there is a desire to do more with AI in government, but that there are still some obstacles.
When asked by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff what the biggest surprise has been about working with tech giants, Sec. Mayorkas noted, “the sense of partnership in realizing the incredible opportunities that AI presents.”
Realizing potential
“AI technology is great, but it can go in directions we don’t want,” Benioff told Mayorkas during their call.
Mayorkas responded that many people think his agency wants to impose restrictions on AI development and innovation. That is not the case.
“What we want to do is create the space to realize its potential,” he responded. “We also want to demonstrate the impact that business can have on moving our world forward. I want to show that government can move as quickly as business can, that we can use AI to accomplish our mission while protecting the safety and security of our nation’s critical infrastructure.”
“The level of partnership and collaboration, and the sense of hope about what this technology can do for the world, I find astonishing.”
Mayorkas also outlined the role of DHS’s AI Safety and Security Board, saying the key is developing a framework that encompasses and accounts for the entire ecosystem: developers, cloud computing, and the entities that use AI.
“The key is to develop a framework,” he noted, “that is not just focused on the model developers, but that really encompasses and maps out the entire ecosystem — the model developers, the cloud computing, the infrastructure entities that are going to be deploying and using AI in their operations.”
“What we’re trying to do is map out the entire ecosystem and communicate with them, with a framework that defines roles and responsibilities, where everyone has a role to play and everyone has responsibilities to execute, in a very socially responsible way with this great technology.”
“The magic is in bringing everybody together — there’s power in collaboration and collective action,” Mayorkas added. “I think it’s really important to get everybody to the table and work toward a common goal.”