‘Unintentional biases are the biggest risks involved in Artificial Intelligence’
‘Unintentional biases are the biggest risks involved in Artificial Intelligence’
It’s time for India to focus on scaling ethical and responsible artificial intelligence (AI) as the technology is set to drive pretty much every operational aspect of individuals, enterprises and governments, said Debjani Ghosh, president, Nasscom.
Unintentional biases are the biggest risks involved in AI, she pointed out. In addition, humans develop their own biases from an early age and therefore increasing the focus on ethical and responsible AI is critical, she explained.
“The problem is not with technology as it is only a tool, but with humans. AI is a problem-opportunity. If we don’t do it right, as one of the CEOs told me recently, it can make or break a company. Once the trust goes, building it back in our times is tremendously difficult,” she said.
“The pressure is definitely building. It is certain that AI will define our life and work, how we consume products and services and how companies interact with customers, and scaling AI is becoming a key paradigm for business success,” Ms. Ghosh further said at a Nasscom-organised event on Responsible AI on Tuesday.
Aparna Gupta, customer services lead, Microsoft India, said enterprises should be willing to roll back tools if things went wrong. In one instance, Microsoft phased out public access to certain AI-driven facial analysis tools in 2019 as they revealed age, gender and other details of people.
“We have to strike a balance. Let us move forward with all checkpoints. When things go wrong, let us accept and be willing to make a correction by rolling back biased tools,’‘ Ms. Gupta said.
Narendra Nath Gangavarapu, Joint Secretary, National Security Council Secretariat, Government of India, said, that globally, several bodies and focus groups (healthcare, agriculture, automotive, energy, etc) have been working on ethical and responsible AI movement and safety protocols.
“We have to tread the path carefully so that AI systems won’t give a feeling of someone looking over my shoulder. We cannot retrofit most technologies but AI is one such we can retrofit,” Mr. Gangavarapu added.