With all the debate around AI and what it is capable of, we have finally entered the era of Artificial intelligence. While many argue that we have yet to realize the true potential of AI, I believe that we have come a long way and can now see AI being fully implemented all over the world.
With AI becoming pervasive in organizational processes, the question of its ethical use now arises. Is AI being used responsibly and ethically by organizations around the world?
The ethical use of AI will set the tone for how we use and engage with it. Consider AI Adopting ethical best practices in AI has become a necessity today, and organizations are aware of the challenges. The risks associated with irresponsible use of AI include brand damage and legal complications. Therefore, ethical use of AI will not only ensure your reputation is good but also keep you on the right side of the law.
A research study conducted by Gartner predicted that nearly 75 percent of all major organizations across the world will hire AI experts to manage brand and reputation risks by 2023. This will be done to ensure that they always stay on the right side of the law with their use of AI.
C-suite executives, especially the CTO and CEO, will play a critical role in determining how a company uses its AI campaign. One litmus test CEOs can use to determine the ethics of their AI use is whether they would feel comfortable if how they use AI were made public for all to see.
Causes and factors of irresponsible use of AI
The world is not new to the AI Trend failure. We have many cases where AI mechanisms have failed to meet human expectations and failed to deliver the desired results.
Amazon recently discovered that the AI system it deployed for recruiting had an inherent bias toward female candidates only. The system worked very similarly to Amazon’s star rating of products, giving candidates points out of 5. Candidates with the highest stars were considered for a role at the company. However, people associated with the system discovered that it was biased toward all female candidates.
In 2018, the traffic police using AI The police who are hunting down unauthorized pedestrians in major Chinese cities have made a huge mistake. As part of their hunt, the police embarrassed themselves by identifying the face of Chinese billionaire Dong Mingzhu as that of an unauthorized pedestrian. The face was identified on a bus that carried Dong’s poster as part of an anti-immigration propaganda campaign. marketing campaignThe city’s traffic police department was ridiculed online for making such a massive mistake.
AI biases are seen in credit reporting, medical misdiagnosis, hiring, and court convictions. AI biases can hamper the fair process of certain industries, which can lead to significant long-term legal consequences.
Leaders need to take this failure to heart and update their processes to limit AI bias. They need to do their best to avoid falling into the same trap again with their AI Process. The technology and intelligence behind AI should be used to improve the world, not to create prejudice or discrimination of any kind.
AI bias is often the result of poor data management or poor staff management. Lack of diversity when recruiting and building your AI team can haunt you in the long run. Additionally, any mistakes made during data collection processes or training programs can negatively impact AI and its implementation.
Consequences of misusing AI
Misuse of AI can have multiple repercussions. For starters, any misuse of artificial intelligence can lead to privacy violations, including a threat to consumer data. Companies or organizations that work with customer data should be especially careful when handling such data, as any incident can damage their reputation in the long run.
Other incidents include:
Loss of trustworthy
A company’s reputation is its most valuable asset, after the money it has in the bank. Many companies consider reputation as an asset and use it to sell their products and/or services. However, this reputation can suffer from an AI error. Most customers stay up to date with the latest happenings in the business world and are quick to leave companies that get involved in AI scams, intentionally or not.
Negative impact on revenue streams
What does loss of trust or reputation lead to? A decline in your revenue streams. Customers may no longer buy from brands that have shown disinterest in their AI systems. The recent wave of data scams on social media and within organizations means that customers are aware of the importance of their data and do not take scams of this nature lightly. Therefore, if your AI system exhibits bias or irregularity, customers will be quick to notice and take evasive action, if necessary.
Legal implications
As we briefly mentioned above, misuse of AI can also lead to legal implications. With regulations like GDPR in place, organizations need to be extremely careful about how they use their AI mechanism. Any loss or misuse of customer data can also land them in serious legal trouble. Your compliance or legal framework should be aware of AI and data regulations and should guide you accordingly.
Establishment of an ethical framework
The entire leadership, including stakeholders and managers, should be involved in the process of establishing an ethics framework. It is necessary to consider ethics as an important part of your AI strategy and treat both equally. Your AI ethics strategies should revolve around diversity in your team, a skilled workforce, and transparency in your use of data. You should be able to easily inform the world about your use of AI in the organization.
Second, you should test all training models before implementing them to identify any potential biases they contain. Your training models should be tested and regulated before implementing them widely across the organization to limit bias and reduce irregularities.
Data and AI governance can significantly contribute to setting the tone for your AI Campaignbecause this will ensure proper data collection and storage. Your data will be perfect for you to work on.
Finally, risk management in the form of compliance must be a necessity. The recent wave of regulations on this issue means that the most significant legal threat must be managed in the best possible way. The entire company must own the compliance process, not just IT. Ensure you have customer consent before acquiring data from them. Integrate the appropriate use of AI into your company values to create a strong connection between the two.
Conclusion
Leaders must take the lead on the fair use of AI in their organizations. It is essential that they act as stewards of fair use of AI and set the tone for ethical use of AI throughout the organization.
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