Following the publication of the report “Towards an Ethics by Design Approach for AI”, the AI4People Institute has launched the initiative to develop the AI4People’s AI Ethics Toolkit.
It is designed to facilitate the implementation of this approach. This tool will provide practical steps tailored to address the most pressing issues in AI ethics, including impact assessments, human oversight, and quality management systems, among others.
The resulting guidance aims to promote a balanced and pragmatic approach to core ethical principles, one that goes “beyond regulatory compliance”. By offering actionable recommendations, highlighting existing resources, and showcasing real-world use cases and activities, the guidance emphasizes that adopting an ethical perspective is the most effective way to prevent costly mistakes. Such an approach serves as a comprehensive safeguard against risks that may otherwise go unnoticed until it is too late.
Our ongoing work is scheduled to be published by the end of April. Previews will be available on our site as soon as our latest set of practical guidelines will near completion. AI4People Institute thanks its Working Group and its Scientific Committee and in particular the coordinator of the Working Group Dr Virginia Ghiara, Fujitsu’s Principal Researcher AI Ethics
The Rationale
Ethics and compliance make for strange bedfellows more often than not. While the latter relies on conformity with the letter of the law at all times, the former takes a bird’s eye view in order to provide an extra-layer of future-proofing.
Our rationale is to ensure that ethical considerations in AI development and use go beyond a mere checklist for regulatory compliance and that regulatory adherence is not the sole driver of responsible AI. The objective is to create AI systems that not only meet legal requirements but also align with broader societal values and ethical principles, fostering outcomes that are both trustworthy and sustainable. This aligns with the goals of both the EU AI Act and the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI, which seek to ensure that technology, no matter how advanced, serves people and not the other way around.
The importance of this approach is underscored by the potential impact of these regulatory frameworks. These relatively small, though complex, steps, have the potential to produce broader and more profound implications.
Ethics unsupported by adequate legislation is a dicey bet: without strong legal support, there is a temptation to pursue the early benefits of innovative concepts before fully assessing their potential consequences. Likewise, legal provisions that would hypothetically break loose from ethical considerations on the alleged rationale that those are mere impediments are likely to fall short in practice, as they may open the door to widespread misuse or fraud.
For more information: info@ai4people.org
