NASA has appointed its first-ever chief AI officer, a move designed to guarantee that the agency keeps pace with this important and fast-changing field. The person being referenced is David Salvagnini, who was NASA's chief data officer.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement today (May 13) announcing the appointment that "Artificial intelligence has been safely used at NASA for decades, and as this technology expands, it can accelerate the pace of discovery."

Nelson added, "It's important that we remain at the forefront of advancement and responsible use, "In this new role, David will lead NASA's efforts to guide our agency's responsible use of AI in the cosmos and on Earth to benefit all humanity."

As Nelson pointed out, NASA has long used AI tech for many reasons. For instance, the agency uses AI in its sophisticated climate modeling tasks, which help establish the environmental implications of global warming and how to lessen them.

Salvagnini will chart NASA's wide vision for AI development and usage and come up with the first innovation ideas in that tech.

Agency officials wrote in the statement that "In his expanded capacity, Salvagnini will continue NASA's collaboration with other government agencies, academic institutions, industry partners, and other experts to ensure the agency is on the cutting edge of AI technology."

He started his career at NASA in June 2023, after he had been working in the intelligence community for 20 years. Thus, he was the director of the architecture and integration group in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the chief architect.

Gradually, Salvagnini is becoming a military man. He had a 21-year career in the US Air Force, from which he retired in 2005 as a communications and computer systems officer, as stated by NASA.

Before Salvagnini's appointment, there wasn't exactly a vacuum in AI leadership; NASA's acting responsible AI official was Kate Calvin, the chief scientist.