Mayorkas deploys artificial intelligence to assist with border security
Anna Giaritelli
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The Department of Homeland Security will launch its first-ever task force that will focus solely on the growing issue of artificial intelligence in America.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas disclosed during a speech in Washington on Friday that he has directed the department to form a group to examine how the accelerating use of AI can harm the United States, as well as how the U.S. can use it to its advantage, including fighting the fentanyl epidemic and managing border security.
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“We must address the many ways in which artificial intelligence will drastically alter the threat landscape and augment the arsenal of tools we possess to succeed in the face of these threats,” Mayorkas said in a State of the Homeland address at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Our department will lead in the responsible use of AI to secure the homeland and to defending against the malicious use of this transformational technology.”
Mayorkas directed DHS to use AI in a way that can help the U.S. detect shipments of fentanyl before they enter the U.S. and at the nation’s land, air, and sea ports of entry.
The task force will look at using AI to identify precursor chemicals exported from China and other countries and sent to Mexico, then interdict them in the process.
A deeper integration of AI will help U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry screen cargo by identifying goods made with forced labor. Commercial trucks that enter through land ports of entry must already send manifests to CBP an hour ahead of their arrival for inspection, which could be an opportunity for AI systems to screen documents instead of relying on only officers’ eyes.
When applied to forensic tools, AI would help identify, locate, and rescue victims of online child sexual exploitation and abuse. In 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 32 million cyber tips related to 88 million images and videos of child sexual abuse.
The DHS secretary expects the evolution of and dependence on AI to accelerate in the near future and embody one of three trends that will shape a “decisive decade,” as Mayorkas says President Joe Biden has termed the challenges ahead. The other top issues were the threat posed by the People’s Republic of China and cyberattacks.
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“Roughly 14.4 billion devices are connected as part, as part of the internet of Things — everything from our home thermostats and doorbells to our electric grid and fuel pipelines,” Mayorkas said. “This has brought significant advances and capabilities and conveniences, but it also has dramatically increased the ways our inter-connected digital world can be exploited to do us harm.”
Mayorkas added that the department would take action to ensure its algorithms and the technology are “rigorously tested” to avoid bias and discrimination toward those it is applied to.