[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5200-5201]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01707]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 18 / Friday, January 26, 2024 / 
Notices  

[[Page 5200]]



AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT


AI in Global Development Playbook

AGENCY: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

ACTION: Notice; request for information.

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SUMMARY: The United States Agency for International Development and the 
U.S. Department of State, in coordination with the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology (NIST), seek information to assist in 
carrying out responsibilities under Executive Order 14110 on Safe, 
Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence 
issued on October 30, 2023. Specifically, the E.O. directs USAID and 
the State Department to publish an AI in Global Development Playbook 
that incorporates NIST's AI Risk Management Framework's principles, 
guidelines, and best practices into the social, technical, economic, 
governance, human rights, and security conditions of contexts beyond 
United States borders.

DATES: Comments containing information in response to this notice must 
be received on or before March 1, 2024. Submissions received after that 
date may not be considered.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
    Sent as an attachment to [email protected] in any of the 
following unlocked formats: HTML; ASCII; Word; RTF; Unicode, or .pdf.
    Written comments may be submitted by mail to: USAID, IPI/ITR/T, Rm. 
2.12-213, RRB, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004.
    Response to this RFI is voluntary. Submissions must not exceed 10 
pages (when printed) in 12-point or larger font, with a page number 
provided on each page. Please include your name, organization's name 
(if any), and cite ``AI in Global Development Playbook'' in all 
correspondence.
    Comments containing references, studies, research, and other 
empirical data that are not widely published should include copies of 
the referenced materials. All comments and submissions, including 
attachments and other supporting materials, will become part of the 
public record and subject to public disclosure.
    USAID will not accept comments accompanied by a request that part 
or all of the material be treated confidentially because of its 
business proprietary nature or for any other reason. Therefore, do not 
submit confidential business information or otherwise sensitive, 
protected, or personal information, such as account numbers, Social 
Security numbers, or names of other individuals.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this RFI contact: 
Andrew Merluzzi, [email protected] or 1-802-558-5397.
    Accessible Format: USAID will make the RFI available in alternate 
formats, such as Braille or large print, upon request by persons with 
disabilities.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To promote safe, responsible, and rights-
affirming development and deployment of AI abroad, the Executive Order 
on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial 
Intelligence directs:
    ``The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development, in coordination with the 
Secretary of Commerce, acting through the director of NIST, [to] 
publish an AI in Global Development Playbook that incorporates the AI 
Risk Management Framework's principles, guidelines, and best practices 
into the social, technical, economic, governance, human rights, and 
security conditions of contexts beyond United States borders. As part 
of this work, the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development shall draw on 
lessons learned from programmatic uses of AI in global development.
    USAID and the State Department are seeking information to assist in 
carrying out this action.
    With the right enabling environment, ecosystem of market actors, 
and investments, AI technologies can foster greater efficiency and 
accelerated development results across a variety of sectors and 
contexts, whether in agriculture, health, education, energy, etc. 
Addressing the risks presented by AI technologies is essential to fully 
harnessing their benefits. Understanding these risks across a range of 
geographic and cultural contexts requires the expertise of local 
communities, the private sector, civil society, governments, and other 
stakeholders.
    The AI in Global Development Playbook aims to characterize the 
risks and opportunities of AI in Global Majority countries (sometimes 
referred to as low- and middle-income countries, developing countries, 
or the ``Global South''), and will provide guidance for various 
stakeholders--organizations building, deploying, and using AI; private 
sector; governments; and others--to address those risks and leverage 
opportunities to drive AI applications for sustainable development. 
This RFI is an attempt to collect various research products, 
experiences, and perspectives that will inform the Playbook and speak 
to the unique risks and benefits of the use of AI technologies in 
Global Majority countries, including concrete examples of successes, 
hurdles, and roadblocks.
    AI ecosystems are the stakeholders, systems, and an enabling 
environment that empower people and communities to build and use AI 
tools responsibly, as well as to respond to the use of AI technologies 
in their contexts. While no two AI ecosystems are identical, there are 
broad characteristics that many ecosystems share or upon which they 
differ. Feedback on this RFI will help illuminate the most impactful 
ecosystem factors and inform how best to navigate those factors to 
advance a responsible approach to AI.
    In considering information for submission, respondents are 
encouraged to review resources that USAID, State Department, and NIST 
have developed or coordinated with partners to develop in the past:

 USAID Digital Ecosystem Framework
 USAID AI Action Plan
 Reflecting the Past, Shaping the Future: Making AI Work for 
International Development
 NIST AI Risk Management Framework
 OECD Working Party on AI Governance
 Global Partnership on AI
 OECD Recommendation on AI

[[Page 5201]]

 Hiroshima Process Code of Conduct for Organizations Developing 
Advanced AI Systems

1. Questions for the AI in Global Development Playbook

    USAID and State Department are interested in receiving information 
pertinent to any or all of the topics described below. Respondents may 
provide information on one or more of the topics in this RFI and may 
elect not to address every topic.
    Please answer based on your experience, the positions of your 
organization, or research you have encountered or conducted. Where 
possible, please cite the source of your information or note when 
personal views are expressed.
    Information that is specific and actionable is of special interest. 
Copyright protections of materials, if any, should be clearly noted. 
USAID and the State Department are especially interested in the 
perspectives of those living and/or working in Global Majority 
countries, though responses are welcome from anyone.

The Opportunities, Risks, and Barriers of AI

    1. What are the most important barriers in Global Majority 
countries to achieving a future where AI tools are designed and 
deployed in a responsible way to address the UN Sustainable Development 
Goals (SDGs) and support humanitarian assistance. How would you address 
these barriers?
    2. What applications of AI or AI technologies are most promising 
for advancing the SDGs and supporting humanitarian assistance? How can 
these applications be advanced responsibly? Are there any sectors that 
are particularly well suited to applications of AI? Are there potential 
limitations or trade-offs that should be considered when applying AI in 
these contexts?
    3. Relatedly, what are the most risky or harmful applications of AI 
in Global Majority countries? Why? Can their risks or harms be 
mitigated, and if so, how?
    4. How are commercially available AI tools currently helpful in 
addressing the SDGs and supporting humanitarian assistance? Where do 
they fall short or lead to harm? What steps have or should be taken to 
mitigate such harms?
    5. How do AI's potential benefits and risks differ for specific 
groups (particularly disadvantaged or marginalized groups) and between 
geographic and cultural contexts?

The Enabling Environment for Responsible AI

    6. How should data for AI systems be collected, used, stored, 
managed, and owned to further the SDGs and support humanitarian goals? 
Which aspects of data management are unique or particularly salient for 
AI? How should the objective of ensuring sufficient data accessibility 
for AI training be reconciled with other objectives, such as ensuring 
privacy protections, in different contexts?
    7. What kind of AI-related financial and resource investments 
should actors in Global Majority countries prioritize to achieve the 
SDGs and support humanitarian assistance? What kinds of financing and 
resourcing is most needed to catalyze responsible AI development?
    8. How should computational resources (``compute'') to build or 
deploy AI systems be managed in Global Majority countries? How could 
compute be more accessible, affordable, and reliable? How should 
hardware and infrastructure to support the deployment of AI systems be 
managed and governed?
    9. What are the barriers to building the AI workforce in Global 
Majority contexts, including for tasks beyond technical development of 
AI systems? What kinds of skills or experience are most needed in these 
contexts? Where can people gain these skills and experiences?
    10. What other AI-enabling infrastructure or resources are needed 
to advance responsible AI development and use?

AI Policy, Protections, and Public Participation

    11. Are there existing AI principles, tools, or best practices that 
you think are particularly helpful in advancing AI for development in a 
risk-aware manner? If they are only partly helpful, where do they fall 
short?
    12. What kinds of AI-related policies do you think are most 
promising (or harmful) in Global Majority contexts? Why? Who might 
these policies benefit, and who might they harm? How might existing 
policies be reshaped for improved outcomes?
    13. How might AI affect broader labor-market dynamics in your 
context? Are there some skills for which it increases demand, and 
others for which it decreases demand?
    14. How might AI affect competition dynamics in your context? Do 
these effects vary by economic sector?
    15. How should the public be informed about AI risks and harms in 
your context, and engaged on AI governance issues? What efforts around 
community engagement seem promising? What communities should be engaged 
who are not part of existing discussions?
    16. What are the best ways to improve inclusivity and stakeholder 
representation in AI design, deployment, governance, or policymaking in 
the context of global development (at the global, regional, and local 
levels)?
    17. What are best practices for ensuring human rights are respected 
and protected in the development, deployment, and use of AI in the 
context of a risk-based approach to AI governance? Are there 
mechanisms, processes, and capacity in place to hold actors accountable 
for harms resulting from AI systems in your context? What should be 
done to create and operationalize those accountability mechanisms, and 
ensure their sustainability?
    18. Please list any other organizations you think should be 
consulted as the AI in Global Development Playbook is developed (please 
note it may not be possible to consult with every organization).
    Authority: Executive Order 14110 of Oct. 30, 2023.

Signing Authority

    This document of the United States Agency for International 
Development was signed on January 24, 2024, by Andrew Merluzzi, 
Emerging Technology Advisor, USAID. That document with the original 
signature and date is maintained by USAID. For administrative purposes 
only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal 
Register, the undersigned USAID Federal Register Liaison Officer has 
been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format 
for publication, as an official document of the USAID. This 
administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this 
document on publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2024.
Andrew Merluzzi,
Emerging Technology Advisor, USAID.
[FR Doc. 2024-01707 Filed 1-25-24; 8:45 am]
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