Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during the third annual Axios What’s Next Summit at the Planet Word Museum March 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. With a focus on the future of the workspace and the role artificial intelligence will play in politics, news and other disciplines, the summit heard from members of Congress, secretaries of the Biden cabinet and media officials.
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When the White House issued an executive order last October to promote the safe and responsible development and use of artificial intelligence in the federal government, one of the first agencies to declare that it was on board the train of the IA was the Department of Homeland Security. The agency is delivering on that commitment, recently announcing a roadmap detailing its plans for AI this year and the launch of three pilot projects to test AI technology.
The roadmap provides visibility into DHS’s approach to AI and its goal of fostering relationships with the private sector, academia, other government entities, and other partners to accelerate development and deploying AI solutions tailored to the unique challenges it faces.
Three pilot programs aim to improve the training of immigration officers; help communities build resilience and reduce the burden of applying for disaster relief grants; and improve the effectiveness of police investigations.
As part of a pilot project, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will test AI to facilitate investigative processes focused on detecting fentanyl and combating child exploitation. AI will strengthen its investigative processes by introducing a broad language model-based system designed to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the summaries relied upon by investigators, the department said. The LLM-based system will use open source technologies to enable investigators to more quickly summarize and search for contextually relevant information in investigation reports.
In another pilot project, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will deploy generative AI to increase the efficiency of the risk mitigation planning process for local governments, including communities poorly served. The pilot project will help state, local, tribal, and territorial governments understand how to develop a plan that identifies risks and mitigation strategies.
And in the third pilot, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will develop an interactive application that uses Generation AI to improve how the agency trains immigration agent staff.
The unprecedented speed and potential of AI development and adoption presents both opportunities and risks, according to Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security.
“The DHS AI Roadmap and Pilot Projects will guide our efforts this year to strengthen our national security, improve our operations, and provide more effective services to the American people, while upholding our commitment to protecting civil rights, civil liberties and privacy,” Mayorkas said. said in a statement.
What DHS learns from the pilots will be beneficial in determining how it can use AI effectively and responsibly in homeland security in the future, he said.
Some of the key priorities that DHS has set for AI, such as immigration and fentanyl issues at the border, are also the focus of Republican impeachment efforts – seen by many as highly politicized and lacking in legal basis – against Mayorkas. House Republican lawmakers, who voted to impeach in February, delivered the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Tuesday.
AI talent search
In the meantime, the agency – like many other organizations – is looking for AI talent. Earlier this year, it launched its first-ever recruiting sprint aimed at recruiting 50 AI technology experts to build teams that will help DHS better leverage AI through its pilot programs and other initiatives .
DHS said its goal is to create an “AI Corps” to bolster its workforce with experts in AI and machine learning technologies, models and applications. AI experts will be part of the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer and will work on a variety of projects advancing innovation and the use of AI. They will provide expertise in AI/ML, data science, data engineering, program management, product management, software engineering and cybersecurity.
“We are hiring faster than ever because the need is urgent,” Eric Hysen, DHS chief information officer and chief AI officer, said in a statement. “We are prioritizing recruiting technologically competent talent who are eager to leverage recent innovations in AI to transform the way people interact with government.
The department’s forays into AI “are a good and necessary step, especially given DHS’s public visibility, reach and mission, making it an ideal candidate to be one early adopters of AI in the federal government,” said Alla Valente, principal analyst at Forrester. Research.
“AI solves a data science problem, and DHS needs to harness large amounts of information and data to be able to obtain insights that will help it fulfill its mission proactively and cost-effectively,” Valente said. “They need AI to help them evolve, to be more competitive and more proactive in their efforts. DHS has the leadership, the responsibility. And with this plan, they also have a laser focus to succeed and open up the path to other federal agencies.”
Prioritize risk management over compliance
To realize the value of AI safely and without sacrificing privacy and freedoms, DHS will need to prioritize risk management over compliance, Valente said.
Most federal agencies are in a “waiting period” when it comes to AI, Valente said. “Many don’t have the appetite for the risk that comes with change,” he said. “Others don’t yet have the literacy, expertise and skills to get started.”
That could change significantly, Valente said, with the agency appointing artificial intelligence leaders, as required by a memo from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The memo prioritizes AI expertise and skills over agency experience.
“The Departments of Energy, Health and Human Services probably have more incentive to act quickly on AI,” Valente said. “Both of these agencies operate as critical infrastructure, are publicly accessible, face major cybersecurity threats and operational disruptions, and are deeply intertwined with the private sector, much of which is already using AI,” did he declare.
As private sector adoption of AI “continues to skyrocket, agencies will have no choice but to adopt it as well,” Valente said.
Agencies will face significant obstacles to adopting AI, according to a recent report from consulting firm EY and market research firm Market Connections.
Among the main challenges: lack of staff dedicated to data governance (cited by 59% of respondents), budgetary constraints (58%) and data security (57%). Only 27% of respondents believe the federal government will rapidly adopt AI technologies in the next year.
On the positive side, agency IT leaders have confidence in their organization’s ability to maintain privacy controls and use up-to-date data to make better decisions. And 70% of agencies are exploring, developing, or using AI for data analysis, document analysis, and predictive analytics.
“Federal agencies are proactively and comprehensively harnessing the power of AI across diverse components,” said Joe Baptiste, digital transformation projects leader for EY’s Government and Public Sector practice.
The creation of new AI programs and leadership positions such as the creation of the CAIO role underscores the federal government’s commitment to leveraging AI, Baptiste said. “For federal agencies to maintain their trajectory in the use of AI, they must foster environments that encourage exploration and adoption, particularly as the dynamics of homeland security evolve,” he said. -he declares.
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