The computer company also suggested that companies appoint chief AI ethics officials in order to prevent algorithms from doing harm.
IBM urged industry and governments to jointly develop artificial intelligence standards to measure and combat potential discrimination.
by Bloomberg as reported in Industry Week
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IBM called for rules aimed at eliminating bias in artificial intelligence to ease concerns that the technology relies on data that bakes in past discriminatory practices and could harm women, minorities, the disabled, older Americans and others.
As it seeks to define a growing debate in the U.S. and Europe over how to regulate the burgeoning industry, IBM urged industry and governments to jointly develop standards to measure and combat potential discrimination.
The Armonk, New York-based company issued policy proposals Tuesday ahead of a Wednesday panel on AI to be led by Chief Executive Officer Ginni Rometty on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The initiative is designed to find a consensus on rules that may be stricter than what industry alone might produce, but that are less stringent than what governments might impose on their own.
“It seems pretty clear to us that government regulation of artificial intelligence is the next frontier in tech policy regulation,” said Chris Padilla, vice president of government and regulatory affairs at International Business Machines Corp.
The 108-year-old company, once a world technology leader, has lagged behind the sector for years. In its fight to remain relevant, IBM has pegged its future on newer technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud services. But it’s yet to show significant revenue growth from those areas.
The IBM recommendations call for companies to work with governments to develop standards on how to make sure, for instance, that African-Americans are guaranteed fair access to housing despite algorithms that rely on historical data such as zip codes or mortgage rates that may have been skewed by discrimination. In the U.S., that would likely occur through the National Institute of Standards and Technology within the U.S. Department of Commerce.