“Regardless of the application of AI, businesses should act proactively when it comes to considering the full end-to-end impact of any product or service,” writes David Ingham. “Companies that do not consider the ethical ramifications of their automation projects are taking a significant legal risk.”

Excerpts from Elite Business’ article:

“While AI bias is creeping into the business world, a recent UNESCO report provided more concerning findings, revealing that voice-activated assistants with female voices such as Amazon’s Alexa instil views of gender subservience. As AI increasingly enters the home as well as the workplace, any associated bias may in fact emerge as a much broader societal issue.

The first step for any organisation to address the issue of bias is to admit it exists and proactively audit its automation and AI procedures. As simple as that seems, Cognizant's, the digital solutions provider, Making AI Responsible and Effective report found that only half of businesses across the US and Europe have policies and procedures in place to identify and address ethical considerations – either in the initial design of AI applications or in their behaviour after the system is launched.

As AI becomes a mandatory strategic tool across multiple industries, the ethical considerations of intelligent systems should not just be viewed as nice to have. All companies need to be held accountable for the outcomes and impact of their products on society.”

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Portions of article reproduced with Elite Business’ permission.