AI Weekly: Defense Department proposes new guidelines for developing AI technologies

This week, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the division of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that awards emerging technology prototype contracts, published a first draft of a whitepaper outlining "responsible … guidelines" that establish processes intended to "avoid unintended consequences" in AI systems. The paper, which includes worksheets for system planning, development, and deployment, is based on DoD ethics principles adopted by the Secretary of Defense and was written in collaboration with researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, according to the DIU. "Unlike most ethics guidelines, [the guidelines] are highly prescriptive and rooted in action," a DIU spokesperson told VentureBeat via email. "Given DIU's relationship with private sector companies, the ethics will help shape the behavior of private companies and trickle down the thinking." Launched in March 2020, the DIU's effort comes as corporate defense contracts, particularly those involving AI technologies, have come under increased scrutiny.