Washington sees AI everywhere

Top officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, the National Economic Council, and private industry all dropped by downtown Washington for the POLITICO AI & Tech Summit on September 17. And with the first presidential election of the generative AI era a mere seven weeks away, much of their attention was turned to ensuring its security and trustworthiness. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) described how artificial intelligence demands a response from each sector of government. “I think you’re going to find artificial intelligence legislation embedded in almost every single piece of legislation that passes the House and the Senate in the coming years,” Rounds said. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that his department was locking in on instances of AI being used for the “dissemination of disinformation” specifically from overseas, with unnamed “adverse nation states propagating narratives that seek to influence the voting public.” Cait Conley, senior advisor to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, echoed his concern, saying that old propaganda tactics could be “supercharged” by AI in November’s elections.