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Reuters |
"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of the United States plans to hire 50 experts in artificial intelligence (AI) this year to help combat child abuse, counteract fentanyl production, and assess the damage caused by natural disasters, in an attempt to enhance the use of this technology.
The agency, responsible for protecting the borders of the United States, will announce the hiring at an event in Mountain View, California, presided over by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Director of Artificial Intelligence, Eric Hysen, according to a press release seen by Reuters and scheduled for publication on Tuesday.
"The government needs the support and expertise of the country's top AI experts to help ensure our continued ability to harness this technology responsibly, protect us against its malicious use, and advance our critical mission of national security," said Mayorkas in a statement.
The agency has not specified the roles of the experts but has indicated that they will contribute their expertise in cybersecurity, data science, and software engineering.
The plan is part of the Biden administration's nascent efforts to leverage the potential benefits of AI while simultaneously addressing the major threats it poses.
In recent months, generative AI, capable of creating texts, photos, and videos in response to open-ended questions, has generated both enthusiasm and fears that it could render some jobs obsolete and disrupt elections by making it difficult to distinguish between real facts and false information.
On Tuesday, officials are expected to highlight how AI is already helping DHS crack down on illegal drug imports by using a machine learning model to identify suspicious patterns in vehicles crossing the border, resulting in 240 drug seizures.
The agency also currently uses a machine learning model to enhance old images, enabling it to identify 300 previously unknown victims of sexual exploitation, as well as some of the perpetrators."