The 695th Lord Mayor of London, Professor Michael Mainelli, said experts developing AI across sectors should increase public trust in new technologies by working on common ethical and professional standards.
As part of his Ethical AI initiative, the Lord Mayor and BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, of which he is a member, have created a new Ethical AI Building Certificate for IT professionals. The certificate trains professionals in existing standards and gives them frameworks to apply them when building AI systems. The course uses case studies from more than two decades of AI applications to explore real-world risks and is applicable across industries.
Organizations like Discover Financial Services are expected to participate in the pilot project launching this week.
The AI genie is out of the bottle
Professor Michael Mainelli, Lord Mayor, said: “The AI genie is out of the bottle and we need to control it appropriately. AI has enormous potential to make our financial system fairer, more accessible and more transparent than ever before. Yet there are real risks, such as inappropriate use of intellectual property, security breaches, misuse of personal data, ingrained biases and dehumanization.
“A focus on ethical AI is key to my theme “Connect to Thrive,” which aims to demonstrate the city’s strengths in solving global challenges.
“As the world’s leading financial center, we know that our financial services sector is at the forefront of investment and adoption of AI technologies. So we also need to know that those who design AI in financial services can be held accountable through a common set of ethical rules and professional standards.”
