The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a comprehensive plan known as the Artificial Intelligence Roadmap. The initiative, aimed at enhancing homeland security, was announced by Eric Hysen, Chief Information Officer and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, and Alejandro N. Mayorkas, DHS Secretary.
Mayorkas stated, "The unprecedented speed and potential of AI’s development and adoption presents both enormous opportunities to advance our mission and risks we must mitigate." He further added that "The DHS AI roadmap and pilots will guide our efforts this year to strengthen our national security, improve our operations, and provide more efficient services to the American people while upholding our commitment to protect civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy. What we learn from the pilot projects will be beneficial in shaping how the department can effectively and responsibly use AI across the homeland security enterprise moving forward."
According to a news release from DHS, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will utilize investigative processes to detect fentanyl and increase productivity of research related to halting child sexual exploitation. Furthermore, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will employ AI to enhance immigration officer training. Additionally, communities could potentially benefit from robust mitigation plans based on AI information related to data gathered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The release also indicated that the roadmap requires DHS to use AI for their initiatives while protecting individuals' civil rights, liberties, and privacy. In addition to this, AI will be employed in partnerships with municipal, state tribal governments as well as private organizations in order to form unified collaborations. The DHS revealed that they are currently hiring 50 AI technology experts with an aim of building teams that would assist them in achieving their goals.
Mayorkas said "As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful and more accessible than ever before, government needs the support and expertise of our country’s foremost AI experts to help ensure our continued ability to harness this technology responsibly, safeguard against its malicious use, and advance our critical homeland security mission." He continued, "Our new AI Corps initiative will make it easier to bring these talented, experienced, creative men and women into public service quickly. The DHS AI Corps will enable the Department of Homeland Security to keep up with the pace of innovation as we enhance our work combating fentanyl traffickers, rescuing victims of child sexual exploitation, countering cyberattacks, assessing disaster damage, and much more."
