NASA’s new AI chief warns of the “errors of omission” of that technology

The new director of artificial intelligence (AI) of the NASADavid Salvagnini, warned on Wednesday that the results offered by this technology must be approached with a critical attitude, because there may be “errors of omission” that affect their responses.

“There are times that it generates a false response that may be something obvious and easier to detect. I would be more concerned about errors of omission. What happens when you give an answer but there was a large amount of data that you didn’t really refer to? ”He asked himself in a forum at his agency in Washington regarding that technology.

Salvagnini therefore urged a detailed analysis of the elements that have led to these responses.

“Do we understand the origin of that data? Do we trust its accuracy? Because if the answer to those questions is negative, our confidence in the AI ​​result should be discarded or reduced,” he said.

Salvagnini was appointed on May 13 as NASA’s first AI director to align the strategic vision and planning of the use of this technology in the US space agency.

The new position responded to the Joe Biden Administration’s October 2023 executive order on the development and safe use of AI, which called on all federal agencies to create such a position.

“The AI ​​is not responsible for the outcome, people are. We have to be aware of our responsibilities. I almost would like artificial intelligence not to be called that but rather to be known as digital help, like a digital assistant to which one has access to receive help in the decision process,” concluded Salvagnini.