Navigating the new terrain: Impacts of the Biden Executive Order on AI and cybersecurity  

Tuesday, February 13th I 2:00PM EST

This talk offers a focused look at the recent Executive Order on AI and cybersecurity by the Biden administration, examining its impact on AI professionals and the cybersecurity landscape.  

We start by outlining key elements of the Order and other similar legislation in development in the UK and EU, illuminating how these directives are likely to impact the work of AI professionals. The discussion will then shift to the potential influences of these regulations on the cybersecurity arms race. 

Following this, we will explore how the Order aims to empower defenders through enhanced fraud detection and watermarking, privacy preservation techniques, and special programs addressing vulnerabilities in critical software. Conversely, we also address a critical concern: the inadvertent advantages that could be handed to cyber attackers due to new regulations. This stems from the fact that only defenders are bound by these rules, potentially hindering their pace of innovation.  

We will also discuss how strict regulatory thresholds might inadvertently constrain defenders. Excessively rigid regulations may impede innovation, while insufficiently strict regulations risk introducing security vulnerabilities.