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US AI Safety Institute vision document
governmentCredibility Rating
5/5
Gold(5)Gold standard. Rigorous peer review, high editorial standards, and strong institutional reputation.
Rating inherited from publication venue: NIST
Published by NIST's AI Safety Institute shortly after its establishment under the Biden executive order on AI, this document is the authoritative statement of AISI's institutional mandate and is relevant for understanding US federal AI governance strategy.
Metadata
Importance: 72/100organizational reportprimary source
Summary
This vision document outlines the mission, priorities, and strategic direction of the US AI Safety Institute within NIST, establishing its role as the federal focal point for AI safety research and evaluation. It describes AISI's approach to identifying and mitigating risks from advanced AI systems through technical research, standards development, and public-private collaboration. The document serves as a foundational statement of how the US government intends to operationalize AI safety at the institutional level.
Key Points
- •AISI positions itself as the primary US government body for AI safety science, focusing on evaluating frontier AI models for dangerous capabilities and systemic risks.
- •The vision emphasizes developing standardized evaluation methodologies, benchmarks, and red-teaming protocols for advanced AI systems.
- •AISI plans to build public-private partnerships with AI developers to gain pre-deployment access to frontier models for safety testing.
- •The document outlines priorities including societal-scale risks, misuse potential (e.g., CBRN threats), and loss-of-control scenarios from highly capable AI.
- •AISI commits to producing public guidance and technical resources to support broader ecosystem adoption of AI safety practices.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Goal Misgeneralization | Risk | 63.0 |
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The United States
Artificial Intelligence
Safety Institute:
Vision, Mission,
and Strategic Goals
May 21, 2024
-- 1 of 9 --
Vision
It is a time of extraordinary advancement in artificial
intelligence (AI). A suite of increasingly capable
computer systems, models, and agents with
capabilities can now perform tasks that were once
thought to require human-level intelligence.
Our vision: a future
where safe AI
innovation enables a
thriving world.
More powerful AI systems offer the promise
of accelerating scientific discovery, techno-
logical innovation, and widespread economic
growth. But as AI has become more powerful,
more generally adept, and widely adopted,
that same promise also brings significant
risks. Some of those risks have already been
recognized as harms; some are only being ap-
preciated now; and others have not yet been
identified. The capability and risk frontier of
AI is vast and not yet fully mapped.
Fortunately, history provides us with exam-
ples where we have successfully navigated
the promises and perils of an emerging
technology—from aviation to electricity to
automobiles to drug development. In each
case, safety has been key to unlocking innova-
tion. But AI presents special safety challeng-
es: current models and systems are opaque,
sometimes unpredictable, and often unreli-
able. Their development and deployment also
generally lack transparency. History also tells
us that public and private institutions dedicat-
ed to science-based safety will be crucial to
the achievement of our vision: a future where
safe AI innovation enables a thriving world.
The U.S. AI Safety Institute (AISI) exists to
help advance the understanding and mitiga-
tion of risks of advanced AI so that we may
all harness its benefits. AISI is housed with-
in the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), the federal government’s
premier body for developing and promoting
science-based technological standards. AISI’s
research, testing, and guidance will enable
more rigorous assessment of AI risk; more
effective internal and external safeguards for
AI models, systems, and agents; greater public
confidence; and ultimately wider and more
responsible development and adoption of AI.
AISI will prioritize community engagement;
publication of usable tools, benchmarks, and
guidance; and encouragement of new na-
tional and global networks for the evaluation
and mitigation of AI risk based on accepted
science.
Page 1
-- 2 of 9 --
Mission
AISI operates with two key principles in mind:
beneficial AI depends on AI safety, and AI safety
depends on science.
Safety breeds trust,
trust provides
confidence in
adoption, and
adoption accelerates
innovation.
Safety breeds trust, trust provides confidence
in adoption, and adoption accelerates inno-
vation. Accordingly, AISI’s mission is to help
define and advance the science of AI safety.
A mature science of AI safety involves a great-
er understanding of advanced AI model and
system capabilities, the adoption of stan
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