NASA officials emphasized that NASA will leverage the growing power of artificial intelligence while keeping safety a top priority.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is advancing rapidly, as evidenced by the emergence of tools like ChatGTP, and NASA officials say this burgeoning field has the potential to help the agency make groundbreaking discoveries, but it also comes with potential pitfalls.
“AI comes with many risks, and if used in ways that do not benefit humanity, the consequences could be dire,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said today (May 22). This was stated at an AI town hall meeting held with staff members.
“AI can make our jobs more efficient,” he added during the livestreamed event. “But only if we approach these new tools the right way and maintain the same pillars of safety, transparency and trust that have defined us from the beginning.”
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NASA is no stranger to AI. The agency has been using the technology for a variety of purposes for decades, Nelson emphasized. But AI capabilities have grown so rapidly in recent times that NASA has stepped up efforts to understand, develop and deploy the technology appropriately.
Last week, for example, NASA announced the appointment of its first-ever AI chief, David Salvagnini, who previously served as the agency's chief data officer. And he and his colleagues aim to increase his AI literacy among all NASA employees soon.
“Part of the activities we'll be doing is the soon-to-be-announced 'AI Summer,' which is a training initiative that will be an opportunity for everyone at NASA to learn more about AI,” Salvagnini said during today's town hall.
“This is literally a campaign,” he added. “It's going to create a surge in training opportunities, so to speak.”
Salvagnini also spoke about AI safety. Responsible use of technology starts with a mindset that puts humanity at the center and takes responsibility, he said. In fact, Salvagnini said he prefers the term “assistive intelligence” over “artificial intelligence” because it keeps us in the driver's seat.
AI “is a resource that I have access to now, and it helps me in my decision-making process,” Salvagnini said. “The AI is not responsible for the outcome. It is the human being who is responsible, and it is the human being.”
He pointed to weather forecasters modeling the likely path of a hurricane as an example of responsible use of AI. Modelers are aware of the limitations of the dataset they are analyzing, so they present multiple potential tracks. In other words, they are using their judgment.
“So how can we be safe?” Salvagnini said. “As the ultimate owners, we understand our responsibility for the work product, and if we end up using AI as part of generating the work product, that’s fine. However, you must understand its capabilities and limitations.”
But AI safety wasn't the only topic at town hall today. Officials also spent considerable time extolling the technology's promise.
“AI will help us in so many areas,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.
She cited the technology's power to sift through vast amounts of information quickly and efficiently – an ability that could lead to major discoveries in solar physics, geosciences and astronomy.
“We don't yet know what new insights we will gain by using these new techniques to examine old data in new ways,” Meloy said.
She and other town hall speakers said some of these insights could be indirect benefits of the technology: AI could take on increasingly mundane, labor-intensive data analysis tasks, freeing up NASA employees to tackle more difficult, complex problems.
Meloy ended his prepared remarks today with limited support for AI, a tone similar to that made by Nelson and Salvagnini.
“So the last thing I want to emphasize is that this is a powerful, original and very exciting tool,” she said. “But if we don't manage it responsibly, we open ourselves up to a world of risks that jeopardize our credibility and our mission.”
