arXiv subjects

Akash Wasil

Publications and source records attributed to Akash Wasil.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

AI Emergency Preparedness: Examining the federal government's ability to detect and respond to AI-related national security threats

We examine how the federal government can enhance its AI emergency preparedness: the ability to detect and prepare for time-sensitive national security threats relating to AI. Emergency preparedness can improve the government's ability to monitor and predict AI progress, identify national security threats, and prepare effective response plans for plausible threats and worst-case scenarios. Our approach draws from fields in which experts prepare for threats despite uncertainty about their exact nature or timing (e.g., counterterrorism, cybersecurity, pandemic preparedness). We focus on three plausible risk scenarios: (1) loss of control (threats from a powerful AI system that becomes capable of escaping human control), (2) cybersecurity threats from malicious actors (threats from a foreign actor that steals the model weights of a powerful AI system), and (3) biological weapons proliferation (threats from users identifying a way to circumvent the safeguards of a publicly-released model in order to develop biological weapons.) We evaluate the federal government's ability to detect, prevent, and respond to these threats. Then, we highlight potential gaps and offer recommendations to improve emergency preparedness. We conclude by describing how future work on AI emergency preparedness can be applied to improve policymakers' understanding of risk scenarios, identify gaps in detection capabilities, and form preparedness plans to improve the effectiveness of federal responses to AI-related national security threats.

cs.CY↗

arXiv2024

US-China perspectives on extreme AI risks and global governance

The United States and China will play an important role in navigating safety and security challenges relating to advanced artificial intelligence. We sought to better understand how experts in each country describe safety and security threats from advanced artificial intelligence, extreme risks from AI, and the potential for international cooperation. Specifically, we compiled publicly-available statements from major technical and policy leaders in both the United States and China. We focused our analysis on advanced forms of artificial intelligence, such as artificial general intelligence (AGI), that may have the most significant impacts on national and global security. Experts in both countries expressed concern about risks from AGI, risks from intelligence explosions, and risks from AI systems that escape human control. Both countries have also launched early efforts designed to promote international cooperation around safety standards and risk management practices. Notably, our findings only reflect information from publicly available sources. Nonetheless, our findings can inform policymakers and researchers about the state of AI discourse in the US and China. We hope such work can contribute to policy discussions around advanced AI, its global security threats, and potential international dialogues or agreements to mitigate such threats.

cs.CY↗

arXiv2024

Combatting deepfakes: Policies to address national security threats and rights violations

This paper provides policy recommendations to address threats from deepfakes. First, we provide background information about deepfakes and review the harms they pose. We describe how deepfakes are currently used to proliferate sexual abuse material, commit fraud, manipulate voter behavior, and pose threats to national security. Second, we review previous legislative proposals designed to address deepfakes. Third, we present a comprehensive policy proposal that focuses on addressing multiple parts of the deepfake supply chain. The deepfake supply chain begins with a small number of model developers, model providers, and compute providers, and it expands to include billions of potential deepfake creators. We describe this supply chain in greater detail and describe how entities at each step of the supply chain ought to take reasonable measures to prevent the creation and proliferation of deepfakes. Finally, we address potential counterpoints of our proposal. Overall, deepfakes will present increasingly severe threats to global security and individual liberties. To address these threats, we call on policymakers to enact legislation that addresses multiple parts of the deepfake supply chain.

cs.CR↗