BSA releases framework to confront Bias in Artificial Intelligence and calls for legislation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is helping people achieve incredible outcomes. Whether it is improving healthcare or helping achieve sustainability goals, emerging AI technologies are unlocking innovation and economic growth. As AI is used in ways that will have increasingly consequential impacts on people’s lives, there is an urgent need for policymakers and industry leaders to align around best practices for mitigating the potential risks of AI bias.

BSA is calling on governments to pass legislation to require private sector companies to perform impact assessments on high-risk uses of AI technologies. To aid governments in this effort, BSA today released Confronting Bias: BSA’s Framework to Build Trust in AI. 

The framework details how organisations can perform impact assessments to identify and then mitigate risks of bias that may emerge throughout an AI system’s life cycle. With more than 50 diagnostic statements specifying actions for companies to take, covering the design, development and deployment of an AI service, this is a first of its kind framework.

This new framework is just one component of effective AI risk management. BSA also calls on governments around the globe to implement regulations and legislation to require impact assessments in order to minimise the potential of bias in high-risk uses of AI. BSA’s framework to build trust in AI can serve as a resource for policymakers and industry leaders alike as they grapple with how best to leverage the benefits of AI without perpetuating existing inequalities.

“Now is the time for industry to step forward and work with policymakers to pass legislation to address risks of AI bias, and BSA will help lead this effort. Companies and governments alike should use BSA’s AI Risk Management Framework as a playbook for building trust and transparency at every point in the AI lifecycle, from design to deployment. BSA’s members are committed to finding and implementing best practices to keep AI systems from producing unintentional negative consequences. Policymakers in the European Union have already begun work on legislation to regulate AI, and we will continue to work with the EU, with leaders in the US, and with policymakers around the globe to build the right approach and pass it into law,” said Victoria Espinel, President and CEO, BSA.ce. 

“AI has the potential to reshape industries and improve quality of life around the globe. But, in the absence of key safeguards, AI can also create feedback loops that may entrench and exacerbate historical inequities,” said Christian Troncoso, Senior Director, Policy, BSA.