The EU commission introduces guidelines for achieving a ‘Trustworthy AI’

On the third day of the Digital Day 2019 held in Brussels, the European Commission introduced a set of essential guidelines for building a trustworthy AI, which will guide companies and government to build ethical AI applications.

By introducing these new guidelines, the commission is working towards a three-step approach including,

Setting out the key requirements for trustworthy AI

Launching a large scale pilot phase for feedback from stakeholders

Working on international consensus building for human-centric AI

EU’s high-level expert group on AI, which consists of 52 independent experts representing academia, industry, and civil society, came up with seven requirements, which according to them, the future AI systems should meet.

Seven guidelines for achieving an ethical AI

Human agency and oversight: AI systems should enable equitable societies by supporting human agency and fundamental rights, and not decrease, limit or misguide human autonomy.

Robustness and safety: A trustworthy AI requires algorithms to be secure, reliable and robust enough to deal with errors or inconsistencies during all life cycle phases of AI systems.

Privacy and data governance: Citizens should have full control over their own data, while data concerning them will not be used to harm or discriminate against them.

Transparency: The traceability of AI systems should be ensured.

Diversity, non-discrimination, and fairness: AI systems should consider the whole range of human abilities, skills and requirements, and ensure accessibility.

Societal and environmental well-being: AI systems should be used to enhance positive social change and enhance sustainability and ecological responsibility.

Accountability: Mechanisms should be put in place to ensure responsibility and accountability for AI systems and their outcomes.

According to EU’s official press release, “Following the pilot phase, in early 2020, the AI expert group will review the assessment lists for the key requirements, building on the feedback received. Building on this review, the Commission will evaluate the outcome and propose any next steps.”

The plans fall under the Commission’s AI strategy of April 2018, which “aims at increasing public and private investments to at least €20 billion annually over the next decade, making more data available, fostering talent and ensuring trust ”, the press release states.

Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, said, “The ethical dimension of AI is not a luxury feature or an add-on. It is only with trust that our society can fully benefit from technologies. Ethical AI is a win-win proposition that can become a competitive advantage for Europe: being a leader of human-centric AI that people can trust.”

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, said, “We now have a solid foundation based on EU values and following an extensive and constructive engagement from many stakeholders including businesses, academia and civil society. We will now put these requirements to practice and at the same time foster an international discussion on human-centric AI."

Thomas Metzinger, a Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Mainz and who was also a member of the commission's expert group that has worked on the guidelines has put forward an article titled, ‘Ethics washing made in Europe’. Metzinger said he has worked on the Ethics Guidelines for nine months. “The result is a compromise of which I am not proud, but which is nevertheless the best in the world on the subject. The United States and China have nothing comparable. How does it fit together?”, he writes.

Eline Chivot, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Data Innovation think tank, told The Verge, “We are skeptical of the approach being taken, the idea that by creating a golden standard for ethical AI it will confirm the EU’s place in global AI development. To be a leader in ethical AI you first have to lead in AI itself.”

To know more about this news in detail, read the EU press release.

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