DHS Announces AI Roadmap, Pilot Projects
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced three artificial intelligence (AI) pilot projects as well as its first ever “Artificial Intelligence Roadmap.”
“The DHS AI roadmap and pilots will guide our efforts this year to strengthen our national security, improve our operations, and provide more efficient services to the American people, while upholding our commitment to protect civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy. What we learn from the pilot projects will be beneficial in shaping how the Department can effectively and responsibly use AI across the homeland security enterprise moving forward,” said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a statement.
Pilot Projects
DHS announced three pilot projects in three mission areas that will cost the department about $5 million. Each team will partner with privacy, cybersecurity, and civil rights and civil liberties experts throughout the development and evaluation process.
First, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will introduce a Large Language Model (LLM)-based system. It will leverage open-source technologies to allow investigators to more quickly summarize and search for relevant information within investigative reports.
DHS believes the technology could be particularly valuable in detecting fentanyl and in finding victims and perpetrators of child sex abuse.
Next, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will deploy AI to help communities plan for and develop hazard mitigation plans to build resilience to disasters and to minimize risks. “This pilot could lead to more communities having the ability to submit grant applications for funding to become more resilient and reduce disaster risks,” wrote DHS.
For the third pilot, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will use AI to improve immigration officer training. USCIS is developing an interactive application using AI that will generate personalized training materials that adapt to a specific trainee’s needs, as well as give information on the most relevant information and laws for USCIS jobs.
“The goal is to help enhance trainees’ understanding and retention of crucial information, increase the accuracy of their decisionmaking process, and limit the need for retraining over time,” noted DHS.
DHS is partnering with Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic, as well as using cloud services from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.
“We cannot do this alone,” said DHS Chief Information Officer and Chief AI Officer Eric Hysen to the New York Times. “We need to work with the private sector on helping define what is responsible use of a generative A.I.”
Results from the pilots will be reported by the end of the year.
DHS Broader AI Efforts
The pilot programs reflect the latest in a series of DHS moves aimed at implementing AI. In February 2024, DHS announced a hiring sprint to recruit 50 AI experts. And last year, DHS established the AI Task Force.
Secretary Mayorkas stressed the importance of moving quickly to the Times.
“And if one isn’t forward-leaning in recognizing and being prepared to address its potential for good and its potential for harm, it will be too late and that’s why we’re moving quickly,” said Secretary Mayorkas.