artificial intelligence

US President Donald Trump recently signed (11/02/19) a " executive order " to, in these words, "maintain the leadership" of the country in the field of artificial intelligence. Although it is undeniable that the US plays a very important role in this area, it is not so simple to position oneself as a leader. In fact, the very concern with maintaining a supposed lead demonstrates that there is at least one serious threat in this race for AI, in which China has been standing out a lot.

More than a promise: years of budget

To carry out this mission, a Committee linked to the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) was appointed, in such a way that broad coordination of the American federal government, including all its agencies, is expected. Directors of these agencies are encouraged, from now on, to prioritize investments in AI, making their budget proposals contemplate investments in the area and, especially, during the coming years.

In other words, there is a concern to provide funds for the initiative and the program recognizes that the development of AI is something that, in addition to money, also consumes a lot of time. And this coexists with a sense of urgency, as the act sets a deadline of 90 days for each agency to indicate how it intends to commit its annual budget to achieve the objectives set by the rule.

Strategic principles and objectives

Trump's act is guided by five principles: promotion of science, economic competitiveness and national security; lowering barriers to AI experiments in order to broaden its use; educating citizens to face the economic revolution caused by technology; guarantee of civil liberties and privacy; as well as maintaining the strategic position of the US in the world AI market.

It seems like a good summary of everything this technology promises in terms of advances and also risks arising from it. Thus, at the same time that Trump reinforces the strategic importance of being a protagonist in the export of AI, he delimits that this asset must be protected so that it does not fall into the hands of commercial adversaries and, especially, enemies. Trump is also committed to maintaining the employability of American citizens, in view of the announced extinction [in my view, prematurely] of several professions.

The principles listed should be aimed at, within the scope of the federal government, achieving six strategic objectives: converting AI research into innovation applied to practice; increase the supply of data and expand access to specialized computers; preserve security and privacy, even in the face of the expansion of AI uses; reduce the vulnerability of systems to malicious attacks; ensure that public and private employees are able to use new technologies; and, finally, to maintain US leadership in the area.

The timeline and deadlines

In addition to establishing competencies, principles and strategic objectives, the "executive order" creates a schedule for them to be achieved. The first step is the improvement in the provision of data by the federal government, which is recognized as a bottleneck for the development of AI.

A public call is planned to, within 90 days, identify the demands of civil society and academia in relation to which services should be prioritized. Within 120 days of the publication of the act, with the support of the Ministry of Planning (OMB), the Federal Committee for Artificial Intelligence (Select Committee) must update the guidelines for the implementation of data and software repositories, with the aim of improving the retrieval and use of information.

In addition to these predictions, the "executive order" creates a series of urgent milestones for the cycle to be successful, starting with the demands of data scientists and closing with meeting them. In other words, it is a planning guided by the use and purpose that society wants to give to data. The American government is not saying what should be done, calling itself only the duty to organize the data, so that there are no leaks or violations of privacy.

My Take: Race Against China

In my view, Trump's new act is very correct and reveals the real clash of two powers. China is the leader in information gathering (including questionably) and is rapidly advancing with its processing capacity. The U.S., on the other hand, may even be seen as a leader in AI research, but it depends on more data to keep fighting. Therefore, the act reorganizes the foundations of the American public data structure. After all, without data, it's impossible to make progress in data science.

Apparently, when it comes to AI, judging by the deadlines and milestones outlined in the American standard, time is also money. In fact, a lot of money. Proof of this is that the US is redoing the foundations, and not a mere renovation of the roof.