Is Responsible AI Synonymous With AI Ethics?

While AI has changed the digital landscape worldwide, it is important for the technological marvel to be used in an acceptable and ethical way. Businesses should design, develop, and use AI-driven software with the intention of benefiting their employees and customers. It is common for people to confuse the term “responsible AI” with “AI ethics.” While both terms refer to the use of AI in a safe, fair, and beneficial way, there is a subtle difference between the two. Responsible AI is not synonymous with AI ethics, and the two terms shouldn’t be used interchangeably.

What Is Responsible AI?

Responsible AI involves practical aspects of building and implementing AI-based solutions with ethical principles. It persuades businesses to design, develop, and deploy AI applications that use the technology in a way that is in sync with their ethical values.

“Responsible AI” revolves around using software solutions while considering their potential impact on society. This may include activities like establishing well-defined data governance structures, creating transparent mechanisms, creating ethical frameworks, etc. With responsible AI, employees and customers can rest assured that the AI-driven software used by an organization is not against their interests.

What Are AI Ethics?

While responsible AI revolves around the practical aspects of using AI in a responsible way, AI ethics are the principles guiding AI implementation. AI ethics are the ethical and moral principles businesses should adhere to while designing, building, and using AI-based software solutions.

These ethics involve understanding the ethical implications of AI on society, the potential consequences of AI-based solutions, and identifying the policies or actions that are ethically right or wrong.

The scope of AI ethics is wider than AI responsible. It involves referring to AI ethics while building software solutions. Areas involving AI ethics may include activities like assessing how fair AI algorithms are, checking if the use of AI encroaches users’ privacy, determining ways to balance the benefits of AI against its drawbacks, etc.

Who Should Take Up The Responsibility Of Ensuring Responsible  And AI Ethics?

As the prominence of AI-based solutions is increasing across domains, the discussion regarding responsible AI’s accountability has become common. Experts often debate whether the responsibility should lie with the product owners or law-making bodies.

While no one has reached a definite conclusion yet, it is safe to say that the responsibility should be shared by product owners as well as the law-making bodies of the concerned country. Ideally, this should depend on the nature of the applications built.

While small-scale applications should involve the developers’ discretion, potentially high-risk AI applications that may compromise users’ privacy and data security should be governed by law-making bodies. This allows product owners to build innovative solutions while keeping AI ethics in mind.

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If you are planning to build an AI-based solution for your business without taking any chances regarding AI ethics, VIZIO helps you build robust AI solutions. Our team of experienced and trained tech experts ensures that the software products you build are 100% ethical and beneficial to society at large.