William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Division A, Title II, Section 241 ("Measuring and incentivizing programming proficiency")

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: NDAA provisions;U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2021-01-01

Risk subdomain coverage

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal to no coverage of AI risk domains. It focuses on workforce development and competency measurement rather than AI risk mitigation. No risk subdomains receive substantive coverage.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document exclusively governs the National Security sector, specifically the Department of Defense and related federal national security agencies. It mandates AI and programming competency testing, tracking, and incentive systems for military and civilian personnel within these organizations.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the U.S. Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, with mandatory obligations on the Secretary of Defense and explicit authority to create special pay provisions codified in the United States Code.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is a section of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which is federal legislation enacted by the United States Congress.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_User
• Entities: Department of Defense; members of the Armed Forces; civilian employees of the Department of Defense; Secretary of Homeland Security; Attorney General; Director of National Intelligence; intelligence community organizations
• Summary: The legislation applies to the Department of Defense and its personnel (both military and civilian), requiring them to undergo AI and programming competency testing. It also encourages other Federal national security agencies to implement comparable systems.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Defense
• Summary: The Secretary of Defense is designated as the primary authority responsible for implementing the provisions, including carrying out activities, prescribing regulations, and administering the special pay system.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Defense; Department of Defense recordkeeping systems
• Summary: The Secretary of Defense is responsible for monitoring through updated recordkeeping systems that track AI and programming certification testing results, comparable to foreign language competency tracking systems.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Build and Use Model

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document does not directly address AI system development lifecycle stages. Instead, it focuses on measuring and incentivizing human competency in programming and AI skills within the Department of Defense workforce. It addresses the operational context in which AI tools are used by personnel but does not govern the lifecycle of AI systems themselves.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document mentions machine learning tools and artificial intelligence competency but does not define or distinguish between AI models, AI systems, or specific types of AI. It focuses on human proficiency in using AI tools rather than governing AI systems themselves. No compute thresholds or model types are specified.