The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a plan to address emerging threats. The DHS has created an artificial intelligence (AI) Task Force designed to use the technology to address specific risks to national security.

The AI task force will drive specific applications of AI to advance critical homeland security missions including:

• Integrate AI into DHS efforts to enhance the integrity of supply chains and the broader trade environment. The DHS will seek to deploy AI to screen cargo, identify the importation of goods produced with forced labor and manage risk.
• Leverage AI to counter the flow of fentanyl into the United States. The DHS will use this technology to better detect fentanyl shipments, identify and interdict the flow of precursor chemicals around the world and target for disruption key nodes in the criminal networks.
• Apply AI to digital forensic tools to help identify, locate and rescue victims of online child sexual exploitation and abuse, and to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.
• Working with partners in government, industry and academia, assess the impact of AI on the ability to secure critical infrastructure.

The task force shall report to Secretary Mayorkas regularly on its work and AI efforts across the DHS. The task force shall also be responsible for reviewing and where appropriate implementing the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s (HSAC) upcoming findings and recommendations on the intersection of AI and homeland security.