US Government finally steps in to regulate AI algorithms
By: Raheel Ahmad
Tags: Regulation, Explainx, Ai Bias, Us Government, Explainable Ai

US Government finally steps in to regulate AI algorithms

Growing concerns of biases and discriminatory behavior of AI algorithms have finally caught the attention of the US government. With the latest policy, we expect to see a change in how government departments and private corporations build and deploy AI systems. Raheel Ahmad Dec 8, 2020·4 min read

image: Freepik.com

With recent debacles of AI regarding race and gender, call for scrutiny has taken a prime spot on our national agenda. Even corporations like Apple, Google have faced backlash over inappropriate behavior of their AI systems. Just a few days back, Google’s Chief of AI ethics, Timnit Gebru, known for her research into bias and inequality in AI, resigned on major bases on women inequality within the company and constant pressure from Google officials on retracting her latest papers on the dangers of large language models. It is disturbing because without a coherent policy on AI ethics and without prioritizing fairness over profits, AI will keep on acting biased towards a specific group of people.

Another report, The coming war on the hidden algorithms that trap people in poverty, published in the MIT Technology Review shares accounts on how algorithms are creating a poverty trap and are discriminating against the poor. Due to a lack of transparency, it is hard to determine how the AI system made its decision and therefore, the system is left unregulated.

In quite an interesting turn of events, on the 3rd of December 2020, the President of the United States, Donald J Trump issued an executive order promoting the use of trustworthy AI in the Federal Government. It comes at a time when AI applications, around the globe, are directly impacting human lives and are becoming ubiquitous.

The executive order is pivotal because it marks the beginning of regulating AI systems that were, for a long time, away from government scrutiny. The executive order lays down specific guidelines for the use of AI systems and presents a clear policy on how the US government will deal with adopting AI.

“Sec 2. Policy: It is the policy of the United States to promote the innovation and use of AI, where appropriate, to improve Government operations and services in a manner that fosters public trust, builds confidence in AI, protects our Nation’s values, and remains consistent with all applicable laws, including those related to privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.”

Diving deeper into the executive order, Section 3 lays down the principles that should be followed when designing, developing, acquiring and using AI in the federal government. Our analysis found five core principles that, if implemented at scale, will lead to better AI systems. In essence, the AI systems should be:

“1. Understandable. Agencies shall ensure that the operations and outcomes of their AI applications are sufficiently understandable by subject matter experts, users, and others, as appropriate.”

“2. Responsible and traceable. Agencies shall ensure that human roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, understood, and appropriately assigned for the design, development, acquisition, and use of AI. Agencies shall ensure that AI is used in a manner consistent with these Principles and the purposes for which each use of AI is intended. The design, development, acquisition, and use of AI, as well as relevant inputs and outputs of particular AI applications, should be well documented and traceable, as appropriate and to the extent practicable.”

“3. Regularly monitored. Agencies shall ensure that their AI applications are regularly tested against these Principles. Mechanisms should be maintained to supersede, disengage, or deactivate existing applications of AI that demonstrate performance or outcomes that are inconsistent with their intended use or this order.”

“4. Transparent. Agencies shall be transparent in disclosing relevant information regarding their use of AI to appropriate stakeholders, including the Congress and the public, to the extent practicable and in accordance with applicable laws and policies, including with respect to the protection of privacy and of sensitive law enforcement, national security, and other protected information.”

“5. Accountable. Agencies shall be accountable for implementing and enforcing appropriate safeguards for the proper use and functioning of their applications of AI, and shall monitor, audit, and document compliance with those safeguards. Agencies shall provide appropriate training to all agency personnel responsible for the design, development, acquisition, and use of AI.”

This policy clearly outlines the importance of building trust and confidence in AI. Without adhering to these principles, organizations and departments will open themselves to high risk and backlash. Following these principles is even more crucial in areas like healthcare, criminal justice, homeland security and public finance because of high costs associated with wrong decisions.

As AI systems become a daily part of our lives, it is our responsibility to ensure the systems that we design, build and deploy are trustworthy and unbiased. At explainX, we are advocating for these principles and are on the mission to democratize responsible AI. We are working on building tools that will help ensure that AI systems around us are explainable, auditable and unbiased. We believe this is an important step towards a fair and responsible society of the future. Without understanding, monitoring and regulating these AI systems, we leave ourselves vulnerable, and no one likes to be vulnerable.

Author Bio:

Raheel Ahmad is the co-founder of explainx.ai — an AI startup that helps data scientists build trust & transparency in AI models.

He is also a visiting research scholar at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering researching on bringing interpretability and explainability to current AI models. Raheel graduated from New York University Shanghai and NYU Stern where he studied applied AI and marketing.

More reading!

Bloomberg Article on Timnit Gebru. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-03/google-s-co-head-of-ethical-ai-says-she-was-fired-over-email

The Coming War on Algorithms That Trap People in Poverty (MIT Tech Review)

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/04/1013068/algorithms-create-a-poverty-trap-lawyers-fight-back/

White House Executive Order: Promoting Use of Trustworthy AI in Federal Government

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-promoting-use-trustworthy-artificial-intelligence-federal-government/