Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 25 | Page 77

t cht lk TECH TALK /////////////////////////////////////////////////// GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS WITH DATA ETHICS IN AI It seems that now is the time for organisations to be prioritising their ethics efforts to ensure AI is being applied appropriately. Joanna Hu, Manager, Data Science (Machine Learning) at Exabeam, explores why CIOs need to make AI ethics a top priority, ensuring their organisation keeps pace with a fast- evolving regulatory landscape. W e are now facing the fourth industrial revolution. Data has become the most valuable asset, due in no small part to the fact that AI technology relies heavily on it. Companies need more access to data than ever before, but with this comes a need to be more open to share data and more importantly, to share data through a secure and well-regulated way without violating privacy. Consumer- based companies also need to standardise and simplify the procedure to allow users to choose whether to share their data or not. The UK government’s recent establishment of the world’s first national AI ethics advisory board represents a truly landmark event. Working with government, regulators and industry to lay the foundations for AI, www.intelligentcio.com the centre’s remit is to anticipate gaps in the governance landscape, agree and set out best practice to guide ethical and innovative uses of data, and advise government on the need for specific policy or regulatory action. Organisations that develop or use AI- powered systems should take note. According to a recent Deloitte survey, 76% of executives say they expect AI to ‘substantially transform’ their companies within the next three years. Yet one-third identified ethical risks as one of their top three concerns about the technology. The use – or potential misuse – of data AI systems learn from the datasets they are trained with. But how these datasets “ ACCORDING TO A RECENT DELOITTE SURVEY, 76% OF EXECUTIVES SAY THEY EXPECT AI TO ‘SUBSTANTIALLY TRANSFORM’ THEIR COMPANIES WITHIN THE NEXT THREE YEARS. INTELLIGENTCIO 77