Ethics key to AI development, says Lords committee

The data issue

Access to huge, and constantly growing, amounts of data is a key reason AI is developing rapidly. However, the way data is currently gathered and accessed is not fit for purpose, according to the committee.

It said: “We have heard considerable evidence that the ways in which data is gathered and accessed needs to change, so that innovative companies – big and small – as well as academia, have fair and reasonable access to data, while citizens and consumers can protect their privacy and personal agency in this rapidly evolving world. 

“The ways in which data is gathered and accessed needs to change so that everyone can have fair and reasonable access to data, while citizens and consumers can protect their privacy and personal agency. This means using established concepts, such as open data, ethics advisory boards and data protection legislation, and developing new frameworks and mechanisms, such as data portability and data trusts.”

The committee added that the government must take care to avoid big companies monopolising data, and ensure greater competition in the market.

Also key, it said, is that the data used isn’t prejudiced, adding that it was concerned many of the datasets currently used to train AI systems are not representative of the wider population, and therefore the AI system could be learning to make unfair decisions.

“While many researchers, organisations and companies developing AI are aware of these issues, and are starting to take measures to address them, more needs to be done to ensure that data is truly representative of diverse populations, and does not further perpetuate societal inequalities,” said the committee.

It added that a challenge should be created, as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, to develop authoritative tools and systems to audit and test training datasets. 

“This challenge should be established immediately and encourage applications by spring 2019,” said the committee. “Industry must then be encouraged to deploy the tools which are developed and could, in time, be regulated to do so.”

Public perception and skills

According to recent survey research by OpenText, UK citizens appear to be losing their fear of AI technology. However, concerns that AI will take over people’s jobs are still out there. 

The committee said it’s important that retraining schemes and upskilling the public are made priorities.

“We believe that AI will disrupt a wide range of jobs over the coming decades, and both blue- and white-collar jobs which exist today will be put at risk,” it said.

“It will therefore be important to encourage and support workers as they move into the new jobs and professions we believe will be created as a result of new technologies, including AI. It is clear to us that there is a need to improve digital understanding and data literacy across society, as these are the foundations upon which knowledge about AI is built.”

As AI becomes part of daily lives, it’s also key that the public understands and is aware of what this means, and when AI is used to make decision about them, said the committee.

“This clarity, and greater digital understanding, will help the public experience the advantages of AI, as well as to opt out of using such products should they have concerns,” it said.

“Industry should take the lead in establishing voluntary mechanisms for informing the public when artificial intelligence is being used for significant or sensitive decisions in relation to consumers.”