The U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, has released a draft policy designed to ensure federal agencies effectively address the risks and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence.

The White House detailed the guidance on Wednesday. Two days earlier, President Joe Biden signed an executive order designed to foster AI safety and security. One of the order’s priorities is ensuring that the government uses the technology in a responsible manner.

The first section of the OMB’s new draft policy is designed to improve the way federal agencies manage their AI initiatives. The document calls on agencies to appoint chief AI officers who will be tasked with coordinating federal machine learning projects, as well as addressing the associated risks. Additionally, they will advise agency leaders on the technology.

The OMB will also direct federal agencies to form internal AI Governance Boards. Each agency’s board is set to be chaired by “the Deputy Secretary or equivalent.” The vice chair, in turn, will be the relevant chief AI officer. 

Another priority of the draft policy is to ensure agencies manage their AI initiatives transparently. According to the White House, agencies will have to detail how they plan to meet the requirements set forth in the OMB’s guidance. Furthermore, federal officials will be expected to “expand reporting” on AI initiatives and the steps they’re taking to address the associated risks.

Tackling the risks posed by AI is a central theme of the OMB’s new guidance. The policy will mandate that federal agencies implement “specific safeguards for uses of AI that impact the rights and safety of the public,” the White House stated.

Agencies will be required to identify and mitigate algorithmic bias in their AI systems, test those systems under real-world conditions and monitor them after they’re deployed in production. The OMB’s draft policy also outlines several other steps that the federal government will have to take to tackle AI risks.

The policy extends to agencies’ AI procurement workflows as well. The OMB plans to provide a set of recommendations on reducing procurement-related AI risks. Additionally, it will create a mechanism for ensuring that agencies’ AI sourcing efforts comply with those recommendations.

The OMB’s guidance aims not only to tackle AI risks but also to address the opportunities presented by the technology. According to the White House, the policy calls on agencies to draft AI strategies that outline the areas where they could put the technology to use. Agencies will also have to identify ways they can enhance their AI infrastructure, equip staffers with more machine learning skills and remove “unnecessary barriers to the responsible use of AI.”

The OMB will collect feedback on the draft policy from members of the public through Dec. 5. Officials reportedly plan to finalize the guidance early next year.

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