紐時賞析/公民自由和國安的取捨 美情報機構備忘錄揭對AI及私人數據規範

美国政府长久以来对于机构收集关于美国人的个人数据一直有所限制。(纽约时报)

Spy Agency Memo Sets Rules for Using A.I. and Americans’ Private Data

情报机构备忘录 对AI及私人数据规范

A previously confidential directive by Biden administration lawyers lays out how military and spy agencies must handle personal information about Americans when using artificial intelligence, showing how the officials grappled with trade-offs between civil liberties and national security.

拜登政府律师先前的一份机密指令,列出军方和间谍机构使用人工智慧时,必须如何处理美国人的个人资讯,显示官员们如何设法在公民自由和国家安全之间权衡取舍。

The results of that internal debate also underscore the constraints and challenges the government faces in issuing rules that keep pace with rapid advances in technology, particularly in electronic surveillance and related areas of computer-assisted intelligence gathering and analysis.

这场内部讨论的结果,也凸显拜登政府要制定跟上科技快速进步的规范,所面临的限制和挑战,尤其是在电子监控和电脑辅助情资收集与分析相关领域。

The administration had to navigate two competing goals, according to a senior administration official, Joshua Geltzer, the top legal adviser to the National Security Council: “harnessing emerging technology to protect Americans, and establishing guardrails for safeguarding Americans’ privacy and other considerations.”

美国政府资深官员、国家安全会议首席法律顾问盖尔泽指出,政府必须引领两个相互冲突的目标:「利用新兴科技保护美国人,并建立维护美国人隐私和其他考量的护栏。」

The White House last month held back the four-page, unclassified directive when President Joe Biden signed a major national security memo that pushes military and intelligence agencies to make greater use of AI within certain guardrails.

拜登总统上月签署一份重大国家安全备忘录,推动军事和情资机构在特定护栏下加强利用人工智慧,但白宫搁置了四页非机密指令。

After inquiries from The New York Times, the White House has made the guidance public. A close read and an interview with Geltzer, who oversaw the deliberations by lawyers from across the executive branch, offers greater clarity on the current rules that national security agencies must follow when experimenting with using AI.

经纽约时报询问后,白宫公布了这份指南。仔细阅读这份指南,并采访监督各行政部门律师审议的盖尔泽,更加清楚国家安全机构尝试使用人工智慧时必须遵循的现行规范。

Training AI systems requires feeding them large amounts of data, raising a critical question for intelligence agencies that could influence both Americans’ private interests and the ability of national security agencies to experiment with the technology. When an agency acquires an AI system trained by a private sector firm using information about Americans, is that considered “collecting” the data of those Americans?

训练人工智慧系统需要提供它们大量数据,为情报机构带来一个关键问题,这可能影响美国人的私人利益和国家安全机构尝试这项科技的能力。当一个机构取得由民营部门企业使用美国人资讯训练的人工智慧系统时,是否被视为是「收集」那些美国人的数据?

The guidance says that does not generally count as collecting the training data — so those existing privacy-protecting rules, along with a 2021 directive about collecting commercially available databases, are not yet triggered.

这份指南写道,这通常不算收集训练数据,因此尚未触发现有隐私保护规范,以及2021年一项关于收集商业可用资料库的指令。

Still, the Biden team was not absolute on that question. The guidance leaves open the possibility that acquisition might count as collection if the agency has the ability to access the training data in its original form, “as well as the authorization and intent to do so.”

尽管如此,拜登团队在那个问题上并非不受任何限制。这份指南保留的一种可能性,即若机构有能力存取训练数据的原始形式,「以及有这么做的授权和意图」,则这种获取行为可能被视为收集。

文/Charlie Savage 译/罗方妤