IDs for AI Systems

TL;DR

This paper proposes a framework for assigning unique identifiers (IDs) to AI systems, enabling access to relevant information for safety, accountability, and interaction management in society.

Contribution

It introduces a novel ID framework for AI systems, detailing its potential applications, incentives for adoption, implementation considerations, and associated limitations.

Findings

IDs can improve safety and accountability in AI deployment.

There is significant demand for AI IDs among key stakeholders.

Implementing AI IDs could mitigate risks in high-impact scenarios.

Abstract

AI systems are increasingly pervasive, yet information needed to decide whether and how to engage with them may not exist or be accessible. A user may not be able to verify whether a system has certain safety certifications. An investigator may not know whom to investigate when a system causes an incident. It may not be clear whom to contact to shut down a malfunctioning system. Across a number of domains, IDs address analogous problems by identifying particular entities (e.g., a particular Boeing 747) and providing information about other entities of the same class (e.g., some or all Boeing 747s). We propose a framework in which IDs are ascribed to instances of AI systems (e.g., a particular chat session with Claude 3), and associated information is accessible to parties seeking to interact with that system. We characterize IDs for AI systems, provide concrete examples where IDs could be useful, argue that there could be significant demand for IDs from key actors, analyze how those actors could incentivize ID adoption, explore a potential implementation of our framework for deployers of AI systems, and highlight limitations and risks. IDs seem most warranted in settings where AI systems could have a large impact upon the world, such as in making financial transactions or contacting real humans. With further study, IDs could help to manage a world where AI systems pervade society.