While federal agencies in the United States continue to make headway under President Joe Biden’s executive order, one state has issued an executive order of its own. On January 8, Maryland Governor Wes Moore issued an executive order aimed at catalyzing the responsible and productive use of AI in the state government. The order recognizes AI’s transformative impact, emphasizing the importance of ethical, beneficial, and trustworthy deployment. It outlines specific objectives, including the promotion of AI knowledge within state agencies, the identification of use cases, and the establishment of secure infrastructure for AI trials.
The executive order outlines specific goals and objectives to guide the implementation of AI in Maryland state agencies. It emphasizes the promotion of AI knowledge, skills, and talent within the state government, aiming to upskill the workforce and ensure access to needed AI talent. Additionally, the order highlights the importance of identifying AI use cases and building foundational infrastructure to safely and securely test AI proofs of concept and pilots.
The principles underpinning the executive order emphasize fairness, equity, innovation, privacy, safety, security, resiliency, validity and reliability in the use of AI. It stresses the need to mitigate the risks of AI systems perpetuating harmful biases and to explore ways in which AI can be leveraged to improve state services and resident outcomes. Moreover, the order underscores the preservation of individuals’ privacy rights in the state’s use of AI, while ensuring that data creation, collection, and processing are secure and compliant with applicable laws and regulations.
To facilitate the implementation of the executive order, an AI Subcabinet has been established, comprising key members of the Governor’s Executive Council, including the Secretary of Information Technology, the Secretary of Budget and Management, the Secretary of General Services, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Commerce, the Director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, the Chief Privacy Officer, the Chief Data Officer, and the Senior Advisor for Responsible AI. The Secretary of the Department of Information Technology will chair the AI Subcabinet, which may designate working groups from the members’ agencies to assist in its duties. The AI Subcabinet will oversee and coordinate efforts in critical domains such as workforce, economic development, and security, ensuring that AI’s potential influence and impact are thoroughly studied and recommendations are provided to the Governor and the legislature.
The executive order also emphasizes the importance of developing a comprehensive action plan that takes a phased approach to operationalizing the state’s AI principles. This plan will be developed and implemented by the AI Subcabinet. The plan will draw upon emerging and established guidance to ensure that any AI tools procured by the state adhere to the AI principles, embed risk-based assessments for AI tools into state processes, and move towards continuous monitoring of AI tools to reflect the state’s adopted values.
If you’re wondering how this executive order and other regulations could impact your company, consider seeking guidance from BABL AI. Their team of Audit Experts possesses specialized knowledge and can address any questions or concerns you may have.
