At the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, “The original classification of information is rarely necessary,” according to an October 2010 ODNI Instruction. But that’s because most relevant information is already classified. There is not much need for new classification activity.
Several recent ODNI Instructions that govern the administration of the classification and declassification programs within the Office were released this week under the Freedom of Information Act (all pdf):
“Classification of ODNI Information,” ODNI Instruction 80.12, October 25, 2010.
“Original Classification Authority Delegation,” ODNI Instruction 80.16, October 21, 2010.
“ODNI Director, Information Management,” ODNI Instruction 10.20, May 18, 2009.
“Particular care should be exercised to avoid both over and under classifying ODNI information,” the Instructions say.
“One thing became increasingly clear: AI doesn’t simply introduce a new category of risk. It changes the speed, scale, complexity, and interaction of risks that already exist.”
In an ideal world, we would not have state or federal climate intervention research bans. We would have researchers and institutions that would not shy away from revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly of these technologies and doing so responsibly.
“What excites me is that it’s very tempting to be very discouraged, and say, ‘Oh, we’ve got these archaic institutions that are calcified and you could never change them.’ But I think we’re in the middle of a technological revolution that will upend lots of things, and does provide a window.”
Ask people what worries them most right now, and they’ll say the cost of living and their livelihoods, not climate change. But those concerns are not separate.