How to Ensure All Americans Benefit from AI

Mathematica responded on July 7 to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s request for information to help update U.S. national priorities and future actions as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy.

Mathematica’s response highlighted the organization’s use of AI across contexts—from public health, to education, to employment and labor—to inform public decision-making. This included its work using machine-learning techniques to identify academically at-risk students, designing and training AI solutions for a challenge sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and predicting fatal opioid overdoses using geospatial analytics. The response also emphasized Mathematica’s experience at the intersection of AI and equity and its expertise in rigorous analysis of organizational systems for implementing policy and delivering services, which is relevant to anticipating some of the ways in which AI’s impact may differ across sectors.

Mathematica’s response and recommendations focused on:

• Ensuring that AI systems are designed, developed, and deployed in ways that protect people’s rights and safety
• Operationalizing principles and practices for identifying and mitigating risks from AI
• Oversight of AI systems to help mitigate risk
• Fostering opportunities for AI to enhance equity rather than perpetuate inequity
• Recommendations to understand the impacts of AI systems on underserved communities and groups of individuals, including people with disabilities
• The imperative to clearly define who is accountable and responsible for safeguards throughout the AI life cycle
• Leveraging AI to strengthen civic engagement and foster structured interactions between citizens and the federal government
• The use of AI to create jobs, reduce costs, and improve outcomes for the American people
• Recommendations for the federal government to effectively and responsibly leverage AI to improve its services and missions. 

Mathematica’s response was authored by Director of Data Innovation Alex Bohl, Senior Director of Communications and Public Affairs Mike Burns, Research Analyst Nicholas Croce, Program Data Analyst Erich Denk, Data Analytics Developer Allison Fox, Senior Fellow Brian Gill, and Research Analyst Ellie Pasternack.