Ethics in AI and the Social27 Commitment to Being Ethical and Unbiased

As artificial intelligence (AI) matures, ensuring ethical implementation and unbiased algorithms is critical to successful digital transformation.

In the age of the fourth industrial revolution, as we rely more and more on tech innovations like artificial intelligence (AI), the ethics around AI are becoming an important part of successful implementation. As Harry Shum, executive vice president of Microsoft’s AI and Research group said, companies involved in AI development “need to engineer responsibility into the very fabric of the technology”. But, what makes a given AI solution ethical? Are there universal standards we can apply to any algorithm to ensure sound ethics? There isn’t one answer to this, but we at Social27 do believe that ethical AI is a key factor in successful AI solutions. And, some standards have been published that we adhere to and would like to clarify what they are and how our commitment to these standards set us apart.

Ethical AI and Social27’s commitment to ethics

Earlier this year (2019), the EU published guidelines to developing ethical AI and we think they cover many of the key considerations in doing so.

Human agency and oversight

If you’ve been following my blogs, you’ve read my thoughts on AI and human augmentation. This guideline provided by the EU is exactly what I’m talking about. Here, what the EU and I are both referring to is, AI does not replace humans but rather unburdens them from simple or mundane tasks, so they can focus on the complex tasks their soft-skills are necessary for. Additionally, AI can accelerate and improve their efforts to help them reach higher success levels at achieving their personal goals. For instance, AI can bridge the gap between marketing and sales to accelerate the buyer’s journey and deliver higher qualified leads for sales.

Technical robustness and safety

This priority is based on the reliability and security of the solution. Luckily, Social27’s AI solutions are powered by Microsoft algorithms, who are leaders in creating robust, secure solutions. Microsoft invests heavily in addressing the top security concerns in AI, which they’ve identified through extensive, thorough research. On top of this, we also test our solutions for reliability and have cybersecurity experts in our development team overseeing every AI project.

Privacy and data governance

Following world-wide and industry compliance standards doesn’t end at AI. Gaining explicit consent to collect data, having transparent, auditable processes and other priorities outlined in compliance policies and guidelines such as the GDPR are just as pertinent when it comes to AI as any other data collecting and handling process.

Transparency

As AI is more widely deployed, it is imperative that the outputs they deliver can be explained and understood. Human oversight is key to ethical AI and the ability to understand outputs/decisions AI solutions are making is necessary to effective oversight. This is another area where we’re proud to partner with Microsoft, as they have put significant investments in programming explainability into the heart of their algorithms.

Diversity, non-discrimination, and fairness

AI solutions should be able to be used by EVERYONE. They should also ensure some level of not being biased in the outputs they deliver. A large part of this is ensuring the data they are fed doesn’t include biased data. I will go into more detail around this in the next section of this blog.

Environmental and societal well-being

This one is pretty obvious, and again, we’re proud to partner with Microsoft for their dedication to this priority. AI systems need to be ecologically responsible and impact social change positively. Systems created by Microsoft address both of these areas.

Accountability

To have accountability for AI, AI systems need to be auditable and reportable. They should follow the same compliance standards as any data handling and processing system does. This includes being able to report on data handling activities and processes in a transparent manner.

So now you’re thinking, “Okay. This all sounds great, but how can you ensure some of these priorities like whether your AI is ‘fair’ or ‘unbiased’?” Below, we’ll share our strategy to ensure fair and unbiased AI.

Social27’s commitment to unbiased AI solutions

When AI and machine learning (ML) were first becoming household topics, one utopian expectation was that they would decrease biases across several fields. However, as people and institutions began testing AI’s ability for removing bias from processes like hiring, this expectation was quickly debunked. There are many examples of AI simply reinforcing our existing biases rather than removing them. It’s no surprise when you remember that AI is only as smart as the data it is trained on.

Let’s not focus on the failures today though. Instead, let’s focus on how to correct these failures and ensure unbiased AI for the future.

Anonymity

The most impactful way AI can ensure unbiased outcomes is by anonymizing certain data/inputs. This may mean removing names or other identifiable information that could cause discrimination. One example of this is in the case of remote patient monitoring (RPM) in healthcare. It has been reported that often women and African American’s reported severity of pain is not taken as seriously as other patients. This can cause their treatment plans to be less successful and can lead to other health complications.

By deploying AI that can anonymize identifiable information that would show gender or race when patients are reporting could ensure that they get equitable care. In this way, anonymizing inputs can ensure that front-end users are discriminated against in any way for their race, gender or other factors.

Learn more

Social27 considers all these priorities with the utmost importance. We have a diverse team that ensures our AI is the most ethical, fair and unbiased it can be so that nobody is left out of the equation. Learn more about our AI services and how they can impact ROI, customer retention and slew of other benefits on our website at Social27.com.