Regulation and oversight needed for responsible AI
Author ADM+S Centre
Date 23 December 2023
With the rapid rise of AI, leaders across the world are exploring much-needed steps to regulate the industry.
In the US, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) ongoing series of AI forums is providing an important public arena for open discussion. President Biden’s recent executive order on AI offers valuable guidance on transparency for private industry to enhance safety and security.
In an opinion piece published in The Hill, Prof Julia Stoyanovich writes “These actions are positve steps. But they don’t go far enough.”
Prof Julia Stoyanovich, is an associate professor of Computer Science & Engineering and of Data Science, director of the Center for Responsible AI at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and affiliate of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S).
She explains “AI systems are high-impact. To be sure, those impacts can be wonderful: AI can save lives by improving diagnostic accuracy in radiology, for example. But unaccountable use of AI can also lead to insidious harms.
“When used in hiring, AI algorithms can systematically deny jobs to older people or those with disabilities, virtually without detection. AI-generated misinformation can destabilize markets or elections. And AI’s carbon footprint from manufacturing, data storage and model training remains largely untracked, obscuring its potentially substantial negative environmental effects.
“These and other risks make the need for the United States to enact comprehensive regulation and oversight more urgent than ever. In the coming year, Congress can and should play a central role in ensuring that we realize the benefits of AI, while controlling the risks — to individuals, organizations, society and the environment”.
In this article, Prof Julia Stoyanovich provides three areas worthy of prioritization in the short term. She suggests congress should:
- mandate disclosure about the use of AI;
- mandate a comprehensive inquiry into the environmental impact of AI; and
- should substantially increase federal investment in responsible AI research, education and training.
Read the full article Three urgent AI red flags for Congress to address in 2024 published in The Hill.
