AI Ethics

It has often been pointed out that while new technologies can offer
solutions for different kinds of issues and enrich people’s lives, the risks
those same technologies bring have the potential to lead to humanrights issues like violations of privacy, more intense illicit surveillance,

Policyand discrimination by algorithms that have been trained on biased

Promoting Organization

promise to the rest of the world to apply AI in ways that are human-Education

approach to AI ethics to the ways in which we develop and operate ourRisk Assessment
External Cooperation
Consulting and Reporting
Mechanisms

data. The Panasonic Group considers our approach to AI ethics as “acentered and that respect human rights,” and we work to apply thatAI products and services, as well as our AI Utilization.

PolicyThe Panasonic Group’s policy with regard to AI is to work to protect
the safety and interests of all stakeholders, including any customers
involved, and minimize the impact of risks throughout the AI Utilization
life cycle from the planning of AI products and services up to their saleand use. By fostering trust in our AI technologies and products in thisway over the long term, we will encourage further AI Utilization, throughwhich we can make a greater contribution to society. In order to do
this, we have defined our AI Ethics Principles (which apply to the entire
Group), and we conduct AI ethics activities to mitigate and avoid risks
that can come with improvements to those technologies and processes
by evaluating and managing risks related to AI ethics so that our AI
Utilization life cycle will function appropriately with reference to ourAI Ethics Principles as well as relevant laws, regulations, and ethicalguidelines for each country. In 2022, we established and published ourAI Ethics Principles.
WEB Panasonic Group Responsible AI
https://tech-ai.panasonic.com/en/responsible-ai/

Sustainability Data Book 2023 112

AI Ethics

Promoting Organization

For matters that have been determined to pose a high level

AI Ethics Activities for the Panasonic Group are driven by the Group’s CTO, our head of AI operations (as of August 2023).

of risk, the Committee sets up review teams to conduct risk
reviews and remedies or otherwise addresses them acrossorganizational divisions.

Panasonic Holdings Corporation

PolicyPanasonic GroupAI Ethics Committee

Promoting Organization

Panasonic Operational Excellence Co., Ltd.
(Legal Alliairs, Intellectual Property, Information
System / Security and Quality Control)

Education

Consulting and Reporting
Mechanisms

The AI Ethics Committee also conducts other research andoutreach related to AI ethics in a variety of ways, including
participation in committee activities at external institutions
researching AI ethics, as well as in the community, academic,

Risk Assessment
External Cooperation

External Cooperation

PanasonicCorporation

Panasonic
AutomotiveSystems Co., Ltd.

Panasonic
Entertainment &Communications
Co., Ltd.

and public sectors. Panasonic was able to participate inPanasonic
Connect Co., Ltd.

Panasonic
Housing Solutions
Co., Ltd

Panasonic Industry
Co., Ltd.

Panasonic EnergyCo., Ltd.

drafting the Governance Guidelines for the Implementationof AI Principles laid out by Japan’s Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry at the Expert Group on How AI Principles
Should be Implemented.

The AI Ethics Committee has been established within
the Group by the Group CTO, comprising staff members
in charge of AI ethics and members from other related
departments like legal and information security, and provides
the Group with systems and measures to be implementedin relation to AI Ethics Activities and provides Operational
Companies with support for their AI Ethics Activities

Education
The Panasonic Group has created training systems andcontent that we provide to our Operating Companies to beused in AI education conducted by AI ethics committees toenable employees across the Group to execute their workin ways that comply with the principles of our AI Ethics

Consulting and Reporting
Mechanisms
The Panasonic Group has created a global hotline that canbe used by all Group and business partner employees toreport anything they have seen or heard that could be causefor concern with respect to AI ethics. We also have systems
set up for general inquiries related to personal information

as well as understanding, reviewing, and formulating

Activities.

countermeasures against risks. We have also provided for

In FY2023, Panasonic conducted AI Ethics e-Learning for all

someone to be responsible for AI Ethics activities at each

employees, including temporary staff, at its Group companies

Operating Company, and these individuals cooperate with• Whistleblowing System in Business Ethics (P138)

in Japan. Group companies outside Japan also promoted• Privacy Policy (for Panasonic Holdings Corporation)WEB

the AI Ethics Committee to carry out activities that fit theemployee education using similar materials. After thebusiness and technologies of each company.

e-Learning session, we posted the materials on its intranet toFor extremely risky AI projects or those with manifest risks,

share Groupwide.

the AI Ethics Committee will propose countermeasures,
report the countermeasures to the AI Ethics Committee Chair

Risk Assessment

and relevant Group companies, and then work with theseIn 2022, Panasonic introduced a monitoring system tocompanies to implement the countermeasures.

identify the AI ethical risks of Group products. The AI Ethics

in each country; they respond to concerns about protecting
customer privacy. See the following for more details.

https://holdings.panasonic/global/privacy-policy.html

Committee collects data, including Group employee survey
results and risk assessment results, for Operating Companies
and analyzes it to understand any risks within the Group.

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