White House to launch AI push with new workshop series

The White House is planning to hold four public workshops this summer to develop plans and spur dialog about the federal government's use of artificial intelligence technologies. In a White House blog post announcing the workshops earlier this week, Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer Ed Felten described some of the potential use cases for AI in government, as well as some of the challenges. "In education, AI has the potential to help teachers customize instruction for each student's needs. And, of course, AI plays a key role in self-driving vehicles, which have the potential to save thousands of lives, as well as in unmanned aircraft systems, which may transform global transportation, logistics systems and countless industries over the coming decades," Felten wrote. The four planned workshops have partnerships with academic and non-profit organizations, and the discussions will feed into the development of a public report later this year, according to the blog.