As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms numerous aspects of society, federal policymakers face the complex challenge of determining if and how to regulate this technology.
On July 19, the Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute and Johns Hopkins Engineering’s Lifelong Learning, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Office of Federal Strategy, hosted an information session on AI for congressional staffers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C. The event aimed to provide staffers with a comprehensive understanding of AI’s underlying technology and its diverse applications, as well as its potential risks and rewards.
The session featured presentations from Johns Hopkins AI experts who shared their insights into AI’s applications across diverse sectors, including national security and health care. The event brought together individuals from both major political parties and both houses of Congress.
Amy Holmes, speaker at the event and executive director of the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence, which helps governments use data to make informed decisions and improve people’s quality of life said, “Most of our 60-person center are former government officials who are now working alongside the public sector to help them develop better technology policies and embrace the positive benefits of that technology like AI all over the globe.”
“Whenever people tell me they’re afraid of AI, I always tell them to think of AI like a computer program,” said speaker Mark Dredze, John C. Malone Professor in the Whiting School of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science and interim deputy director at the Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute. “The idea that AI is something that we can’t control— that’s just not true. These are computer programs and technologies that we build, and we decide where and when we use them.”
Medical Transformation
Speakers discussed AI’s potential to dramatically change medicine, with medical imaging at the forefront of this revolution. The Food and Drug Administration approved 221 new artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML)-enabled medical devices last year. Overall, 76% of FDA approved medical devices are in the radiology medical domain.
Speaker Haris Sair, an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Radiology and Radiological Science and the director of the Division of Neuroradiology, told attendees that new AI/ML-powered technologies have the potential to address part of the nation’s current shortage of radiologists, explaining, “While the radiologist will still be the one to make decisions and give diagnoses, AI can assist radiologists with interpretations of imaging and improving their workflows.”
National Security Shifts
Speakers also discussed AI’s potential to transform and improve national security through its applications in areas including strategic planning, threat detection, and more. Speaker Jim Bellingham, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, executive director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy, and director of safety and assurance in the Data Science and AI Institute, said that AI will also fundamentally change how we prepare for and fight wars, citing examples such as the use of small autonomous weaponized drones and ways AI applications could be used to help reinvent the national defense infrastructure.
Last year, suicides reached an all-time high among active-duty military members, and Bellingham spoke about AI-driven technologies to address this, such as tools that can be used to detect mental illness in members of the military. “Using AI, it is possible to analyze a person’s behavioral patterns to detect possible mental health concerns, and then alert individuals if symptoms like depression are detected,” said Bellingham.
The Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute, Johns Hopkins Engineering’s Lifelong Learning, Johns Hopkins Office of Federal Strategy, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center look forward to collaborating on similar sessions in the future.
