“Allied on AI Assurance: Technology to Enhance AI Security & Safety”

From July 17-19, US-Japan NEXT Alliance Initiative Senior Director Jim Schoff led a six-person US delegation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts from the national research community and government to meet with counterparts in Tokyo. The purpose of the trip was to foster networking, share information, and explore opportunities for bilateral research collaboration to strengthen AI defenses, mitigate disinformation, and confront various other challenges created by so-called adversarial AI.

The delegation on this AI Security study trip met with policy makers and AI researchers in Japan’s government, private sector, and research institutes to discuss strategic approaches and develop joint initiatives for AI security. The US experts came from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the Department of Homeland Security, meeting with Japanese officials and researchers from the Cabinet Office, various ministries, Japan’s AI Safety Institute, and Japanese universities and laboratories. The trip culminated with a large public event featuring the US delegation at the University of Tokyo, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST).

Background:

A phenomenon some call “adversarial AI” has emerged as an economic and national security concern not only in terms how it can threaten national cybersecurity efforts or AI training model integrity, but also its potential to spread disinformation and undermine democratic institutions.

AI-enabled disinformation, be it through fake human accounts, automated botnets, or groups of coordinated malign actors, can exploit modern digital connectivity and flood it with discriminatory and inflammatory ideas designed to widen identity-based social gaps, erode trust in democratic governance, promote government and societal dysfunction, and even incite violence.

The US and Japan are wrestling with these challenges individually and collectively through multilateral forums such as the G7 and OECD, but bilateral networking on this topic can be an important supplement, especially when it comes to the technology behind the policy development.

The US and UK signed a cooperation agreement among their AI Safety Institutes (AISI) for this purpose in April 2024. Japan launched its AISI in February 2024, and the US and Japan have begun consultations on possible cooperation and info sharing (together and as a broader network of AI Safety Institutes. Bilateral collaboration in confronting AI-enabled disinformation can be a force multiplier for investing in research to develop countermeasures and mitigation strategies.

• For an outline of the NEXT Alliance AI Study Trip and delegation members, click here.
• To read the summary of the study trip authored by NEXT Alliance Initiative Senior Director Jim Schoff, click here.
  • • 日本語での会議の概要はこちらからご覧ください。

Welcoming Reception: 

Upon arrival in Tokyo, the US delegation had an opportunity to meet US and Japanese AI-interested scholars and officials in a casual setting for networking. New US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Katherine Monahan offered some welcoming remarks.

Day One:

The US delegation carried out a series of meetings with US Embassy staff, AI and economic security-related officials at Japan’s National Security Secretariat, and an extended roundtable discussion with experts in Japan’s Cabinet Office, Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy. The meeting included officials from Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI); Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC); and the National center of Incident readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC).

Day Two: 

Sasakawa USA co-organized with PwC Japan a roundtable discussion with university AI researchers and private sector representatives sharing their perspectives about AI Safety and Data Trust issues. The US delegation also made a site visit to Japan’s new AI Safety Institute, explored Ueno Park and the Tokyo National Museum, and concluded the day with a sake tasting/lecture dinner.

Day Three:

Sasakawa USA co-organized with Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) a roundtable discussion with national laboratory and university AI researchers sharing examples and outcomes from their AI safety and security research. They also discussed the challenge of translating lab research to real world implementation, as well as best practices in international collaboration. Afterwards, some members of the US delegation participated in a public event hosted by the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) and its Economic Security Research Program (ESRP), attended in person by over 100 people.

Concluding Dinner: 

Before the US delegation returned home, Sasakawa USA hosted a farewell dinner involving some of the friends we had made during the trip and other leaders in Japan’s science diplomacy and technology research communities.

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