An administration official who insisted on remaining anonymous to discuss the role said that the Biden administration intends to name a senior White House adviser as the director of the recently founded safety center for artificial intelligence on Wednesday.
Elizabeth Kelly, a Commerce Department official, will serve as the director of the AI Safety Institute at the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Kelly was a key contributor to the writing of the executive order that founded the institution and was signed at the end of October, according to an administration official. Kelly is currently President Joe Biden’s assistant on economic strategy.
The White House National Economic Council’s Lael Brainard stated that Kelly “shaped the president’s agenda on tech and financial regulation and worked to build broad coalitions of stakeholders” in a draft statement that was acquired by The Associated Press.
The development of the technology will be greatly aided by the new institute. In order to guarantee that the systems are secure for users and companies alike, “red team” testing guidelines are expected to be established by July for prominent AI developers.
The administration believes that in order to fully realize the potential of this quickly developing technology and establish the kind of confidence needed for a broader adoption of AI, safety testing are essential.
Recently, the federal government started mandating that AI firms test their systems. However, the institute intends to finalize a common set of requirements this summer, which are currently absent from those tests.
According to her LinkedIn page, Kelly is a Yale Law School alumnus who has held positions at Capital One, a financial corporation, and the Obama White House.