AI is hitting the headlines and impacting daily lives nationwide. This fast-developing technology brings “promise and peril,” in the words of an Oct. 30 executive order from President Joe Biden. This executive order sets forth a plan for the safe, responsible use of AI. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra is among the federal leaders who will be turning the order into action in the coming months.
AI’s benefits could include increased productivity and innovation, as the executive order notes. Over time, HHS partner organizations may find the technology useful in helping the people they serve. Yet, AI could open the door to heightened bias and discrimination, as the order also warns. AI’s ability to create false and misleading content — “deception or obfuscation,” in the words of the order — also could heighten risks for recruitment into human trafficking. Of special concern is preventing AI from generating child sexual abuse material or intimate imagery of real people without their consent. Such material or imagery can sometimes serve as a tool to coerce people into trafficking or to control them once they are in that situation.
“We look forward to working with our partners in the field to harness the potential and mitigate the dangers of AI,” said Katherine Chon, director of the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP). “We will do our part, alongside other federal agencies, to ensure that AI will help, not harm, people at risk for human trafficking and all the organizations who serve them.”
Meanwhile, HHS will be examining algorithmic systems used for federal benefits to ensure “equitable and just outcomes,” as set forth in the new order.