The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has submitted a coordinated response on behalf of the standards community to a draft publication released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): NIST AI 100-5, A Plan for Global Engagement on AI Standards. The draft document is designed to drive the worldwide development and implementation of AI-related consensus standards, cooperation and coordination, and information sharing.
According to NIST, “The draft invites feedback on areas and topics that may be urgent for AI standardization. Such topics, which are ready for standardization, include mechanisms for enhancing awareness of the origin of digital content, whether authentic or synthetic; and shared practices for testing, evaluation, verification, and validation of AI systems. Other topics may require more scientific research and development to establish a foundational scientific understanding about critical components of the potential standard.”
ANSI’s coordinated response, compiled from submissions from its members and constituents, commended NIST for its recognition that AI standards developed in a process that is open, transparent, and driven by consensus will best meet market and government needs. It offered examples of ANSI-accredited SDOs already working on or considering working on sector-specific AI standards, noting that “ANSI is pleased to offer our assistance to NIST in engaging U.S.-based standards developers on sector-specific AI standards work, including but not limited to ANSI-accredited standards developers, and those groups or individuals working on behalf of the United States through ISO and IEC Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs), to advance U.S. standardization and conformance goals in the area of AI.”
ANSI recommends that the federal government continue to prioritize engagement in the development of AI technical standards and tools that have broad, cross-sectoral applications, and advised of work underway within International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Joint Technical Committee (JTC) 1, Information technology, Subcommittee (SC) 42, Artificial intelligence. Other areas addressed in the response include domestic capacity building and global capacity building, including expanding the ability of low- and middle-income countries to participate in standards development in critical and emerging technologies.
“ANSI and its members look forward to continuing to contribute toward a strong public- private partnership for the development of global AI standards. Ensuring that key principles are well-crafted within the Plan for Global Engagement on AI Standards is of critical importance as this document will be not only an essential tool for U.S. public-private sector coordination, but also a model for the U.S. government’s harmonization efforts globally,” concluded the response.
Access ANSI’s coordinated response to NIST.
