US State Department Removes Several AI Use Cases Related to Media and Content

The U.S. Department of State recently removed several entries from its public inventory of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, Fedscoop reported. In total, nine items were taken down from the department's website, many of which were related to media and digital content. 

Interestingly, some of these items seemed to be duplicates, listed under two different agencies. Additionally, the bureau responsible for a few remaining items was altered. 

The removal comes roughly a week after the release of draft guidance for 2024 inventories by the Office of Management and Budget.

Clare Martorana, U.S. Federal Chief Information Officer, earlier this month revealed that the U.S. government is working to enhance the reporting of AI use case inventories by focusing on improving their searchability.

“We’re working really hard to make sure that we’re enhancing those use cases… with metadata so that we can search them and really interrogate them, rather than just collect them and broadcast them — really to get key learnings from those,” Martorana said while speaking to reporters at a Federal CIO Council symposium.

So far, the U.S. government has reported over 700 AI use cases for federal agencies.

The Biden administration has previously indicated that the inventories will be more central to understanding how different federal agencies are leveraging the technology. Martorana also emphasized the importance of public comment in the guidance development process, highlighting equity and transparency as recurring themes in the feedback received from stakeholders.