NASA appoints first chief AI officer as the technology’s importance rises

The official reason is the mandated appointment of a CIAO as required by President Biden’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.

As required by Biden’s executive order, all federal agencies must appoint chief AI officers to not only coordinate the agency’s use of AI but also put safeguards in place to protect human rights and maintain public safety. The US Department of Justice, for example, recently appointed Princeton professor Jonathan Mayer to be its first CAIO.

Another influence is the recent expansion in AI use within NASA. Although popularly seen as an agency that sends people and objects into space, NASA’s day job increasingly involves grappling with huge volumes of data generated by these endeavors.

This comes from multiple sources, including satellites, telescopes, and space missions, as well as monitoring data connected to research on climate change and exoplanet detection.

This comes from multiple sources, including satellites, telescopes, and space missions, as well as monitoring data connected to research on climate change and exoplanet detection.

The CIAO walks among us

Until recently, AI would have been viewed in most organizations as primarily an engineering issue. But the emergence of generative AI in particular has transformed AI into a strategic and business priority. As a result, the job title of CAIO is catching on in government organizations and business boardrooms alike.