NIST narrows in on risks related to chem-bio AI models
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute is seeking information on the development of chemical and biology-focused artificial intelligence models.
In a Federal Register posting Friday, the AISI said it is specifically interested in potential benchmarks and evaluation tools for understanding these models, as well as guidance on mitigating the kind of security risks they might raise.
The focus on these kinds of AI models comes amid growing excitement that they might be used to advance scientific goals — like identifying new medications — but also concern that the technology could create myriad national security risks.
“By reducing the time and resources required for experimental testing and validation, chem-bio AI models can accelerate progress in areas such as drug discovery, medical countermeasure development, and precision medicine,” the posting states.
It continued: “The dual use nature of these tools presents unique challenges — while they can significantly advance beneficial research and development, they could also potentially be misused to cause harm, such as through the design of more virulent or toxic pathogens and toxins or biological agents that can evade existing biosecurity measures.”
Some of the topics addressed by the request for information specifically concern national security issues. Other sections of the RFI address various security considerations, including how two models interact and the potential for these models to harm biodefense and biosecurity.
Responses are due by Dec. 3.
