Responsible AI: why businesses need reliable AI governance

Summary

In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Christina Montgomery, IBM's Chief Privacy & Trust Officer, discusses the importance of AI governance and ethical considerations in AI development. She emphasizes the need for businesses to establish foundational principles for AI use, focusing on transparency, accountability, and precision regulation to mitigate bias and build trust with consumers.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Christina Montgomery, IBM’s Chief Privacy & Trust Officer, emphasizes the importance of AI governance and ethical considerations in AI development.
• 🔍 AI governance involves ensuring compliance with international legal regulations and managing the responsible use of AI, which is a crucial part of Christina's role at IBM.
• 📈 The role of Chief Privacy Officer has evolved to include AI governance, reflecting the increasing intersection of privacy and AI technologies.
• 🌐 IBM advocates for precision regulation in AI, focusing on applying strict controls to areas where societal harm risks are highest, rather than regulating the technology itself.
• 🤖 Bias in AI systems is a significant concern, stemming from biased training data and model outputs. IBM has developed tools and guidelines to detect and mitigate bias.
• 🚀 Christina testified before Congress, highlighting the need for foundational principles in AI use and stressing the importance of aligning AI policies with emerging technologies.
• 💼 Trust in technology is a strategic advantage for businesses, and IBM is committed to building trust through transparency and responsible AI practices.
• 🌐 International data protection laws and regulations are complex and ever-changing, necessitating a robust governance process to maintain compliance.
• 💡 IBM's AI platform, watsonx, includes a governance component, watsonx.governance, designed to help businesses manage AI models and ensure compliance over time.
• 🔑 Christina advises businesses to start with foundational principles, formalize a governance program, and proactively manage AI governance to build trust and prepare for future regulations.

Q & A

What is the focus of the current season of Smart Talks with IBM?

The current season of Smart Talks with IBM is focused on New Creators who are creatively applying technology, particularly artificial intelligence, in business to drive change.

What is Christina Montgomery's role at IBM?

Christina Montgomery is IBM’s Chief Privacy & Trust Officer and also chairs IBM’s AI Ethics Board. Her role involves overseeing IBM’s privacy policy, ensuring AI governance, and helping the business to competitively differentiate through trust and transparency.

How has Christina Montgomery's role evolved over time?

Christina Montgomery's role has evolved to be broader than just ensuring compliance with data-protection laws globally. She is also responsible for AI governance, co-chairing IBM's AI Ethics Board, and helping IBM manage the most-sensitive data for clients.

What was the main topic of Christina Montgomery's congressional testimony?

Christina Montgomery's congressional testimony focused on the need for new AI regulation, emphasizing the importance of precision regulation approaches and the mitigation of bias in AI.

Why is it important to build bias consideration and testing into the product development cycle?

It is important to build bias consideration and testing into the product development cycle to ensure that AI models are not perpetuating biases from the data they are trained on, and to maintain trust and transparency in AI technologies.

What is the 'precision regulation approach' for AI that Christina Montgomery discussed?

The 'precision regulation approach' for AI involves applying the tightest controls and strictest regulatory requirements to the technology where the end use and risk of societal harm is the greatest. It emphasizes different rules for different risks, with more-stringent regulation for higher-risk use cases.

What is the role of businesses in AI governance?

Businesses play a critical role in AI governance by understanding the impacts of technology on their operations and consumers. They need to deploy AI technology that aligns with their goals and can be trusted, ensuring transparency and explainability in AI decisions.

What is the significance of IBM's watsonx.governance platform?

IBM's watsonx.governance platform is a component of their AI platform that includes tools to help notify if a model becomes biased or gets out of alignment over time. It is designed to help businesses govern their AI technologies and ensure compliance with emerging regulations.

How does Christina Montgomery view the future of AI in terms of transparency and trust?

Christina Montgomery is optimistic about the future of AI, envisioning a future where AI practices are more transparent and trustworthy. She believes that regulations will drive research into techniques like watermarking and that businesses will increasingly adopt transparent and explainable practices in their use of AI.

What advice does Christina Montgomery give to companies looking to strengthen their approach to AI governance?

Christina Montgomery advises companies to start with foundational principles, decide what technology to deploy and for what purposes, formalize a governance program, and conduct a maturity assessment to identify where they are and where they need to be. She also emphasizes the importance of not waiting for regulation to apply directly to their business.