The GSMA has launched the first industry-wide Responsible AI (RAI) Maturity Roadmap to provide telecom operators with the tools and guidance to test and evaluate their responsible use of the technology.
Recognizing that the overall opportunity from the expanded use of AI in the telecommunications sector is estimated by McKinsey to be $680 billion over the next 15 to 20 years, the GSMA is bringing the industry together to use the technology ethically and responsibly – the first time an entire sector has committed to a common approach to AI.
The roadmap, developed using insights gathered by McKinsey and a group of operators, will enable telecoms companies to assess their current level of maturity in responsible AI use against their ambitions and needs. It then provides clear guidance and measurement tools to help them achieve these ambitions, while ensuring industry best practices in responsible use of the technology.
Its development follows well-established commitments by many mobile network operators (MNOs) to ensure that the exploration and integration of AI into their work has been and is being carried out in an ethical and responsible manner.
Following extensive industry consultation, the GSMA has adopted these approaches and combined them with existing global regulations, recommendations and standards from international organisations, including the OECD, and the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, to create a roadmap for the entire industry to align on the use of IAR.
This initiative was supported by Axiata, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Telstra. Nineteen mobile network operators have already committed to using the roadmap as a means to monitor, maintain and improve their responsible use of AI. Full details of all mobile network operators already using it can be found in the notes to editors.
The RAI Maturity Roadmap is based on five fundamental underlying dimensions: an organization’s vision, values, and strategic goals; its operating model and how to maintain AI governance across all operations; technical controls aligned with regulatory requirements; collaboration with third-party ecosystems; and the company’s change management and communications strategies.
For each of these dimensions, the roadmap will guide organizations to take appropriate actions to use AI responsibly in relation to their level of maturity.
It also draws on well-established best practice principles, including: fairness; human agency and oversight; privacy and security; safety and robustness; transparency; accountability; and environmental impact.
By providing greater clarity and a common approach to the responsible use of AI, the GSMA Industry Roadmap will give MNOs the confidence to embark on its adoption knowing they are doing so in an established, agreed and ethical manner, and therefore will more quickly realise the full value of the technology.
The transformative potential of AI has long been evident, but its integration into our work and lives must be done responsibly and transparently to be truly effective and sustainable. This roadmap will now enable more mobile network operators to embrace AI knowing that they, like the industry as a whole, are doing so responsibly and ethically.
Responsible AI is the right way to explore and unlock the many opportunities offered by the technology, and the telecommunications industry is proud to be the first sector to commit to this approach. We hope that others will follow our example.
Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA
The speed with which AI has become a central part of technology and telecoms operations demonstrates its power and undeniable value, but also the risks we must consider as an industry and the need to include ethics at the heart of AI to prevent its uncontrolled development. It is essential for us all to ensure that responsible guidelines for the use of AI are implemented now, and it is great to see the telecoms industry leading the way in this regard with the GSMA’s new roadmap.
José María Álvarez-Pallete López, Chairman of the GSMA Board and President and CEO of Telefónica
