As AI technology continues to outpace governance frameworks, a new report offers a systematic survey of the landscape—identifying existing standards, strategic documents, and key gaps to inform critical and emerging technology activities and AI-related priorities.
The ASCET Center of Excellence’s standardization environmental scan sheds light on where the most critical gaps in AI standards are—and where standards work can have the greatest impact to advance U.S. leadership in AI.
Who’s Driving AI Standards Development?
Among its findings, the scan identifies the primary standards developing organizations (SDOs) shaping the AI standards landscape, including examples of direct technical contributions. Two impactful examples: NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework, and the work of the ISO/IEC subcommittee on AI. Created in 2017, the joint subcommittee (JTC 1/SC 42) is the first-of-its-kind international standards committee encompassing the full AI IT ecosystem, with ANSI serving as its secretariat.
Where Are the AI Standards Gaps?
Key areas where AI standards are lacking, insufficient, or fragmented include addressing bias in AI systems, and insufficient standards for the origin and history of data. Another gap identified in the report centers on standards that guide human AI-interaction—how people interact with, interpret, and respond to AI outputs.
“AI is advancing faster than the standards infrastructure needed to support its safe and responsible deployment,” said Mohsen Seifi, Ph.D., ASTM vice president and principal investigator for ASCET. “This scan gives stakeholders across government, industry, and academia a clear picture of where standards exist, where the gaps are, and where we need to focus our collective efforts to ensure the U.S. remains at the forefront.”
What’s Next to Shape the Future of AI Standards?
The document recommends adopting an agile approach to AI standards development, developing techniques for AI interpretability aligned with standards, establishing sector-specific standardization priorities, and supporting knowledge management and training for AI risk mitigation, among other guidance.
The findings of the AI scan will inform ASCET’s upcoming activities on the topic, including workshop and roadmap development.
About ASCET
ASCET is a cooperative agreement between the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and ASTM International that supports private sector-driven engagement in international standards development. ANSI is an implementing partner of ASCET, along with ASME, the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) Robotics, CSA Group, IEEE, and UL Standards & Engagement (ULSE).
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