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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Nathan E Sanders and Bruce Schneier

AI use by the US government is ballooning. And the lack of transparency is troubling

United States Capitol Building, Washington Dc - 07 Nov 2024Mandatory Credit: Photo by Aashish Kiphayet/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock (14882719q)
‘Only one of the examples cited above (the DoJ) even proposes to involve the public.’ Photograph: Aashish Kiphayet/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

On 14 April, the Trump administration quietly acknowledged the widespread use of AI to automate government processes. The office of management and budget (OMB) disclosed a staggering 3,611 active or planned use cases for AI across the federal government. The list has ballooned by 70% from the one published in the final year of the Biden administration, and includes many disturbing-seeming plans to hand over sensitive governmental functions to AI.

Scanning this list, many readers may find many causes for alarm. It represents a transfer of decision processes from human to machine on a massive scale over matters of individual freedom, public health and wellbeing, nuclear reactor safety and more.

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