A new global standard for AI ethics

artificial intelligence (AI) is more present in our lives than ever before. AI is ubiquitous, from predicting what we want to see as we scroll through social media to helping us understand weather patterns to managing agriculture. AI algorithms can be partly credited for the speed with which vaccines were developed to combat COVID-19. Algorithms break down complex data from clinical trials being conducted in all corners of the world, creating a global collaboration that could not have been imagined even a decade ago.

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But the technology associated with AI cannot always be called beneficial. The data used to feed into AI often does not represent the diversity of our societies, producing results that could be called biased or discriminatory. For example, while India and China together make up about a third of the world’s population, Google Brain estimated that they make up only 3% of the images used in ImageNet, a widely used dataset. Huh. Likewise, there are problems with facial recognition technologies, which are used to access our phones, bank accounts and apartments, and are increasingly employed by law-enforcement officials to identify women and people of dark color. goes. For three such programs released by major technology companies, the error rate was 1% for light-skinned men, but up to 19% for dark-skinned men and 35% for dark-skinned women. Prejudice in facial recognition techniques has led to wrongful arrests. These challenges are not surprising when we look at how AI develops. Only one in 10 software developers worldwide is female. These women come in large numbers from western countries.

These issues are particularly important for India, one of the world’s largest markets for AI-related technologies, valued at more than $7.8 billion in 2021. In fact, the National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence released by NITI Aayog in 2018 highlights the huge potential. AI can help solve the complex social challenges faced by Indian citizens in sectors such as agriculture, health and education, in addition to the significant economic returns that AI-related technologies are already generating.

To ensure that these technologies reach their full potential, there is a need to establish the right incentives for ethical AI governance in national and sub-national policy. India has made great strides in the development of responsible and ethical AI governance, starting with NITI Aayog’s #AIForAll campaign, several corporate strategies have been adopted to ensure that AI is developed with common, human values ​​at its core has gone.

However, until recently, there was no common global strategy to advance an agenda of this importance. That changed last November when 193 countries signed a key agreement at UNESCO on how AI should be designed and used by governments and tech companies. The UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence took two years to put together and included thousands of online consultations with people from different social groups. It aims to fundamentally change the balance of power between people and the businesses and governments that develop AI. In fact, if the business model of developing these technologies doesn’t change to put human interests first, inequalities will grow to a level never experienced before in history; Access to the raw material that is the data is important.

Countries that are members of UNESCO have agreed to implement this recommendation by taking action to regulate the entire AI system life cycle, from research, design and development to deployment and use. This means they must use affirmative action to ensure that women and minority groups are properly represented in AI design teams. This can take the form of quota systems that ensure these teams are diverse or in the form of dedicated funds from their public budgets to support such inclusion programs.

The recommendation also underscores the importance of proper management of data, confidentiality and access to information. This establishes the need to have control over the data in the hands of users, allowing them to access and delete information as needed. It also calls on Member States to ensure that appropriate security measure plans are drawn up for the processing and effective accountability of sensitive data, and that redressal mechanisms are provided in the event of loss. All this takes enforcement to the next level.

Additionally, the wider socio-cultural impacts of AI-related technologies are also addressed, with the recommendation that AI systems should not be used for social scoring or mass monitoring purposes; Special attention should be paid to the psychological and cognitive impact of these systems on children and youth; And that Member States should invest in and promote not only digital, media and information literacy skills, but also social-emotional and AI ethics skills to strengthen critical thinking and competencies in the digital age. All of this is important to ensure accountability and transparency of AI-related technologies, underscoring a strong rule of law that adapts to new digital boundaries.

In many countries, the principles of recommendation are already being used in AI regulation and policy, demonstrating their practical feasibility. Finland provides an example of good practice in this regard with its 2017 AI Strategy. It was the first of its kind in any European country and demonstrated how governments can effectively promote ethical AI use without compromising on the desire to be on the cutting edge of new technologies.

a general rule book

The new agreement is broad and ambitious. It is a recognition that AI-related technologies cannot continue to work without a common rule book. In the coming months and years, the recommendation will serve as a compass to guide governments and companies to voluntarily develop and deploy AI technologies that conform to generally agreed principles – similar The move sets the criteria that followed the UNESCO declaration on the human genome. for genetic research. Second, it is hoped that governments will use the recommendation as a framework for establishing and updating legislation, regulatory frameworks and policy to embed humanistic principles into their own enforceable accountability mechanisms. In order to support countries in realizing the full potential of AI, and to build the institutional capacity of countries and all relevant stakeholders, UNESCO is in the process of developing tools that will help them assess their readiness in the implementation of the Recommendation. Help and identify, monitor and evaluate the benefits, concerns and risks of AI systems.

With this agreement, we are confident to put AI where it can have the most impact: hunger, environmental crises, inequality and pandemics. We are optimistic about building the momentum for real change.

Gabriela Ramos is the Assistant Director-General for Social and Anthropological Sciences, UNESCO, and Ritva Kaukku-Ronde is Finland’s ambassador to India and Bangladesh.