- Donald Trump signed a new executive order on his first day as US president
- The order revokes a previous order that required thorough research on AI tools before release
- This is in line with his presidential campaign
Day one of Donald Trump’s presidency has been marked by over 200 orders. The returning US president has used his executive power to sign a number of drastic policy changes, among them one regarding artificial intelligence (AI).
Back in 2023, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14110, titled “Safe, Secure, and Trusted Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” The goal of the directive was to establish a national framework for the governance of artificial intelligence in the United States.
It mandated that developers of AI systems that pose risks to national security, economic stability or public health and safety conduct rigorous security testing and share the results with the federal government before public deployment.
The problem and promise of AI
The goal was to ensure that potential risks of new AI tools were analyzed before the tools were made available to the general public.
In addition, the order directed federal agencies to develop guidelines for the responsible use of AI, including measures to prevent algorithmic discrimination and protect civil rights. It also called for the development of standards to identify AI-generated content aimed at addressing concerns related to misinformation and deepfakes.
On January 20, President Trump’s first day in the Oval Office, he rescinded this executive order, Pakinomist reports. This was consistent with what Trump promised during his campaign, when the Republican Party said it “supported AI development rooted in free speech and human flourishing.”
Generative AI (GenAI) is a relatively new tool that can create new content, such as text, images, music or code, after receiving commands (or prompts) in the form of natural human language. Opinion leaders, academia, and the general public were both excited and afraid of this new technology.
On the one hand, it’s exciting because it unlocks creativity, automates tasks and enables cutting-edge applications, but on the other hand, it’s scary because it can be misused in misinformation campaigns and can lead to job displacement.
Via Pakinomist
