Artificial intelligence (AI) is a transformative technology that holds promise for tremendous societal and economic benefit. AI has the potential to revolutionize how we live, work, learn, discover, and communicate. AI research can further our national priorities, including increased economic prosperity, improved educational opportunities and quality of life, and enhanced national and homeland security. Because of these potential benefits, the U.S. government has invested in AI research for many years. Yet, as with any significant technology in which the Federal government has interest, there are not only tremendous opportunities but also a number of considerations that must be taken into account in guiding the overall direction of Federally-funded R&D in AI.
In 1956, researchers in computer science from across the United States met at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire to discuss seminal ideas on an emerging branch of computing called artificial intelligence or AI. They imagined a world in which “machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve the kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves”. This historic meeting set the stage for decades of government and industry research in AI, including advances in perception, automated reasoning/planning, cognitive systems, machine learning, natural language processing, robotics, and related fields. Today, these research advances have resulted in new sectors of the economy that are impacting our everyday lives, from mapping technologies to voice-assisted smart phones, to handwriting recognition for mail delivery, to financial trading, to smart logistics, to spam filtering, to language translation, and more. AI advances are also providing great benefits to our social wellbeing in areas such as precision medicine, environmental sustainability, education, and public welfare.
The increased prominence of AI approaches over the past 25 years has been boosted in large part by the adoption of statistical and probabilistic methods, the availability of large amounts of data, and increased computer processing power. Over the past decade, the AI subfield of machine learning, which enables computers to learn from experience or examples, has demonstrated increasingly accurate results, causing much excitement about the near-term prospects of AI. While recent attention has been paid to the importance of statistical approaches such as deep learning, impactful AI advances have also been made in a wide variety of other areas, such as perception, natural language processing, formal logics, knowledge representations, robotics, control theory, cognitive system architectures, search and optimization techniques, and many others.
The recent accomplishments of AI have generated important questions on the ultimate direction and implications of these technologies: What are the important scientific and technological gaps in current AI technologies? What new AI advances would provide positive, needed economic and societal impacts? How can AI technologies continue to be used safely and beneficially? How can AI systems be designed to align with ethical, legal, and societal principles? What are the implications of these advancements for the AI R&D workforce?
The landscape for AI R&D is becoming increasingly complex. While past and present investments by the U.S. Government have led to groundbreaking approaches to AI, other sectors have also become significant contributors to AI, including a wide range of industries and non-profit organizations. This investment landscape raises major questions about the appropriate role of Federal investments in the development of AI technologies. What are the right priorities for Federal investments in AI, especially regarding areas and timeframes where industry is unlikely to invest? Are there opportunities for industrial and international R&D collaborations that advance U.S. priorities?
The question remains: will the new administration pursue this approach or dumb down the strategy because of the fear of facts, science, and opposing opinions?
About the National Science and Technology Council
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is the principal means by which the Executive Branch coordinates science and technology policy across the diverse entities that make up the Federal research and development (R&D) enterprise. One of the NSTC’s primary objectives is establishing clear national goals for Federal science and technology investments. The NSTC prepares R&D packages aimed at accomplishing multiple national goals. The NSTC’s work is organized under five committees: Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability; Homeland and National Security; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education; Science; and Technology. Each of these committees oversees subcommittees and working groups that are focused on different aspects of science and technology. More information is available at www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/nstc.
About the Office of Science and Technology Policy
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) was established by the National Science and Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976. The mission of OSTP is threefold; first, to provide the President and his senior staff with accurate, relevant, and timely scientific and technical advice on all matters of consequence; second, to ensure that the policies of the Executive Branch are informed by sound science; and third, to ensure that the scientific and technical work of the Executive Branch is properly coordinated so as to provide the greatest benefit to society. The Director of OSTP also serves as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and manages the NSTC. More information is available at www.whitehouse.gov/ostp.
About the Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology
Research and Development
The Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) is a body under the Committee on Technology (CoT) of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The NITRD Subcommittee coordinates multiagency research and development programs to help assure continued U.S. leadership in networking and information technology, satisfy the needs of the Federal Government for advanced networking and information technology, and accelerate development and deployment of advanced networking and information technology. It also implements relevant provisions of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-194), as amended by the Next Generation Internet Research Act of 1998 (P. L. 105-305), and the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science (COMPETES) Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69). For more information, see www.nitrd.gov
(Link: https://www.nitrd.gov/news/national_ai_rd_strategic_plan.aspx)