Position: In-House Evaluation Is Not Enough. Towards Robust Third-Party Evaluation and Flaw Disclosure for General-Purpose AI

Shayne Longpre, Kevin Klyman, Ruth Elisabeth Appel, Sayash Kapoor, Rishi Bommasani, Michelle Sahar, Sean McGregor, Avijit Ghosh, Borhane Blili-Hamelin, Nathan Butters, Alondra Nelson, Dr. Amit Elazari, Andrew Sellars, Casey John Ellis, Dane Sherrets, Dawn Song, Harley Geiger, Ilona Cohen, Lauren McIlvenny, Madhulika Srikumar et al. (14 additional authors not shown)

TL;DR: Legally protected third-party evaluation and coordinated flaw disclosure are essential to safe and secure general purpose AI systems.

Abstract: The widespread deployment of general-purpose AI (GPAI) systems introduces significant new risks. Yet the infrastructure, practices, and norms for reporting flaws in GPAI systems remain seriously underdeveloped, lagging far behind more established fields like software security. Based on a collaboration between experts from the fields of software security, machine learning, law, social science, and policy, we identify key gaps in the evaluation and reporting of flaws in GPAI systems. We call for three interventions to advance system safety. First, we propose using standardized AI flaw reports and rules of engagement for researchers in order to ease the process of submitting, reproducing, and triaging flaws in GPAI systems. Second, we propose GPAI system providers adopt broadly-scoped flaw disclosure programs, borrowing from bug bounties, with legal safe harbors to protect researchers. Third, we advocate for the development of improved infrastructure to coordinate distribution of flaw reports across the many stakeholders who may be impacted. These interventions are increasingly urgent, as evidenced by the prevalence of jailbreaks and other flaws that can transfer across different providers' GPAI systems. By promoting robust reporting and coordination in the AI ecosystem, these proposals could significantly improve the safety, security, and accountability of GPAI systems.

Lay Summary: The widespread deployment of general-purpose AI (GPAI) systems introduces significant new risks. Yet the infrastructure, practices, and norms for reporting flaws in GPAI systems remain seriously underdeveloped, lagging far behind more established fields like software security. Based on a collaboration between experts from the fields of software security, machine learning, law, social science, and policy, we identify key gaps in the evaluation and reporting of flaws in GPAI systems. We call for three interventions to advance system safety. First, we propose using standardized AI flaw reports and rules of engagement for researchers in order to ease the process of submitting, reproducing, and triaging flaws in GPAI systems. Second, we propose GPAI system providers adopt broadly-scoped flaw disclosure programs, borrowing from bug bounties, with legal safe harbors to protect researchers. Third, we advocate for the development of improved infrastructure to coordinate distribution of flaw reports across the many stakeholders who may be impacted. These interventions are increasingly urgent, as evidenced by the prevalence of jailbreaks and other flaws that can transfer across different providers' GPAI systems. By promoting robust reporting and coordination in the AI ecosystem, these proposals could significantly improve the safety, security, and accountability of GPAI systems.

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Primary Area: Research Priorities, Methodology, and Evaluation

Keywords: Safe Harbor, Flaw Disclosure, Third-Party Evaluation

Submission Number: 386