What Is Ethical AI?
In our current digital age, where technology is advancing at a rapid pace, the usage of AI has become more mainstream.
While that has streamlined the workflow and increased the efficiencies of countless businesses, a few problems still come with the increased usage of artificial intelligence.
One of the trending concerns that people have with AI involves ethics. With AI being such an emerging technology, there have yet to be firm rules and regulations to dictate its usage. That’s why implementing ethical standards for AI is essential as companies transition to a business model that combines AI technologies with knowledge workers.
As the name suggests, ethical AI is essentially a system that operates “ethically” under a
predetermined set of guidelines that cover legislation, human values, data privacy, security, and overall compliance for companies and individuals to mitigate possible risks and harm to humans or other companies.
The Importance of Ethical AI
AI is becoming one of the fastest-growing technological innovations that does not come without complications and risks regarding privacy, security, and bias. Ethical AI is an effective way to combat these issues and prevent them before they even become a problem.
The main components of ethical AI are as follows:
Human oversight: implementing human input and continuous monitoring of AI systems to ensure fairness.
Privacy and data governance: protecting personal data and keeping security in the development process.
Non-discrimination and bias: ensuring that the AI programs operate fairly without discrimination against certain individuals.
Transparency: open policy regarding how data is retrieved, used, and stored.
IP: allocation of credits to the creators and owners of data.
Implementing ethical AI practices allows tech companies to address all significant concerns related to using the technology. By being proactive about ensuring your AI usage is ethical, companies can maintain their trust and confidence with customers and safeguard against potential harm.
Intellectual Property & Giving Credits
The first way to ensure that AI remains ethical is through adherence to intellectual property laws. By ensuring that all AI projects align with current IP regulations, we are utilizing the technology in a way that doesn’t stifle human creation.
Obtaining consent and permission from copyright holders, especially in the case of machine learning, is essential to ensure that there are no intellectual property disputes. Once consent is obtained, giving credits to the original IP owners is also a necessary step in showcasing transparency when it comes to AI usage.
Fair Use of Data
Fair use is an important concept to grasp when utilizing AI, especially regarding machine learning. Fair use of data, which is the ability to utilize copyrighted material when given
permission, should only be used in the case of transformative works. If the AI is not creating something entirely new that serves a different purpose than the original material, then this does not fall under fair use. Furthermore, the original IP holder should always confirm all usage of copyrighted materials.
Compliance and Security
AI is a technology-heavy innovation, meaning there is a significant risk for all stakeholders involved if there are any mishaps in cybersecurity. To prevent this, AI companies use enhanced cybersecurity practices to prevent data breaches and any other privacy risks.
Another way to avoid possible security risks is to audit the AI systems regularly. As well as minimizing the personal information of employees shared with your AI systems and ensuring that anyone working with the AI is properly and sufficiently trained to handle day-to-day operations and aware of the established protocols.