On November 9, 2023, the inaugural Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Strategy FY 2024-2025: Empowering Diplomacy through Responsible AI (EAIS) was released by the Department of State. This strategy, endorsed by Secretary Blinken, sets forth comprehensive guidelines for the ethical and responsible utilization of AI in the realms of design, development, acquisition, and deployment, establishing a unified vision for AI advancement, infrastructure, policies, governance, and culture within the Department.
The Department of State finds itself at a critical juncture, poised to leverage the vast potential of an emerging AI landscape. AI holds the promise of transformative breakthroughs across various domains such as public policy, language translation, administrative functions, information dissemination, task automation, code generation, and more. However, to fully capitalize on this potential, the Department must prioritize integrity and responsibility in its AI endeavors. This entails safeguarding data security and privacy, as well as mitigating bias to uphold the Department’s core values and principles.
Drawing expertise from over 25 departments and agencies, the State Department’s AI leaders and policy experts collaborated under the auspices of the Office of Management Strategy & Solutions Center for Analytics to craft the EAIS for the fiscal years 2024-2025. The primary objective is to align the Department’s AI implementation with its distinguished track record in politics and foreign affairs.
Central to the EAIS is the vision statement that underscores the Department’s ability to harness AI’s capabilities ethically and effectively to enhance U.S. diplomacy and shape the future of statecraft, in alignment with the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of AI.
The EAIS outlines four key objectives that serve as guiding principles for bolstering the Department’s AI capacities:
- Leveraging Secure AI Infrastructure
- Cultivating an AI Technology-Embracing Culture
- Ensuring Responsible AI Application
- Fostering Innovation
These objectives are underpinned by specific targets that align with the Department’s AI strategy. Through concerted efforts over the next two decades, tangible progress is expected to be realized.
To effect the transformative change envisioned in the strategy, the Department must enhance its AI utilization comprehensively. This necessitates robust collaboration, leadership alignment at all levels, financial and technical support, a skilled workforce, streamlined legal and policy frameworks, and a shift in the organizational culture concerning data and IoT.
Building on the success of the Enterprise Data Strategy and related initiatives, the Department is now in the process of implementing the EAIS. Leveraging the proven effectiveness of the EDS Data Campaign strategy, the Department aims to drive significant progress in AI adoption. By fostering collaboration among technical experts and stakeholders from diverse departments, offices, and posts, the plan seeks to ensure the successful development and scaling of AI applications for widespread departmental use through targeted AI pilot programs.
