White House itching to 'modernize' federal agencies, revamps AI policy

The White House on Monday issued not one, but two revised “America First” policies that pledge to “rapidly and responsibly” adopt the use of artificial intelligence to “modernize” the federal government.

The new directives are part of President Trump’s plan to “maintain America’s global dominance in AI,” according to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, who were jointly responsible for revamping the documents.

The new directives rescind the Biden administration’s previous orders to place safeguards on AI technology, further pushing an Executive Order: "Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI," signed by US President Donald Trump upon taking office in January,

“President Trump recognizes that AI is a technology that will define the future,” said Lynne Parker, Principal Deputy Director of the White House OSTP.

“This administration is focused on encouraging and promoting American AI innovation and global leadership, which starts with utilizing these emerging technologies within the Federal Government,” Parker said.

The goal: implement minimum-risk management practices for high-impact uses of AI and develop a generative AI policy in the coming months.

Together, the Federal Agency Use of AI and Federal Procurement policies will provide “much-needed guidance" on the adoption and acquisition of AI, while "removing unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions," maintaining efficiency, and still being cost-effective, Parker said.

Agencies will have up to six months to finalize an AI maturation strategy that can achieve "enterprise-wide improvements."

Modernizing government with emerging technology

All agencies are ordered to appoint an “Agency Chief AI Officer,” considered more of a change agent and AI advocate, “rather than overseeing layers of bureaucracy,” the White House said.

The Agency Chief AI Officers will be expected to promote agency-wide AI innovation and adoption for lower-risk AI, mitigate risks for higher-impact AI, and advise on agency AI investments and spending, it said.

The revised directives will require agencies to “maximize the use of American AI” when seeking new technology solutions and to track “AI-use cases” and identify categories that could potentially impact “the rights or safety of the American people.”

The agencies will also be required to produce an “AI adoption maturity assessment” and, throughout the adoption process, be expected to use performance-based techniques and share resources.

To avoid red tape, instead of creating new layers of approval, agencies will be held accountable by mirroring the existing processes already in place for using government IT.

The White House provided several examples of how AI can streamline an agency's endeavors, including how the US Department of Veterans Affairs uses AI tools to optimize and standardize patient care.

For example, AI is already being used by the VA to improve the process of identifying and analyzing pulmonary nodules during lung cancer screening exams, thereby assisting clinicians to make life-saving diagnoses, it said.

In another example, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) is using AI to better understand the global drug market and the impact of illicit drugs on communities and individuals. These analyses assist in drug trafficking investigations, ultimately improving the safety of the American public.