The Edge in Incorporating AI Ethics

A common misunderstanding is that AI ethics stifles AI innovation, slowing deployment of AI products to market. While organisations may intuitively understand the importance of ethics in their operations and products, this misunderstanding usually leads to shortcuts and ethics white-washing through checklists and equating ethics to law compliance. When ethical concerns arise after deployment it usually turns out to be very costly, both in monetary and reputational terms. On the contrary proactively incorporating AI ethics gives organisations an edge over competition and over policy volatility. There are several fronts where an organisation could gain an edge. 

Trust and reputational Edge

AI is a data intensive technology, and organisations aim to leverage unique data to gain a competitive edge. However, this uniqueness can be easily lost when untrusting customers start exploring other options. We need not look any further than an example of WhatsApp terms of service change, as explained in these articles by The Guardian and Reuters.  And we all know too well the adage “trust once broken…”.

To quantify the importance of trust, consider the context of Africa. In general tech adoption in Africa has been and is still growing at high rates driven by high internet and cellular penetration. With a population of over 1.5 billion and with quite a substantial percentage under the age of 40, there is undoubtedly a large market share to capture across various economical sectors. This population is also increasingly becoming aware about their digital rights as is evident from African Union's AI Strategy and various countries formulating laws and policy to govern the digital, including AI. In essence there is a considerable reputational edge to be gained from capturing and maintaining trust through not just AI ethics, but ethics of technology as a whole. 

Monetary & Productivity Edge

Incorporating AI ethics can also offer a monetary edge through cost mitigation. For example, by avoiding expensive mistakes such as privacy leakages and discrimination which can attract litigation and consequently hefty fines. While such costs are easily quantifiable it may obscure the costs incurred in having to suspend the deployment of an AI product in order to fix ethical issues. In some instances this could mean a complete overhaul to take a different approach. In addition, aiming for ethical AI by design can spur innovation creating an edge in itself and sets an organisation up for success in the face of changing policies.

In conclusion, there’s an edge to be gained from pro-actively incorporating AI ethics. This could be maintaining trust with clients and also monetary. In the context of Africa, as more states adopt laws to govern the digital, incorporating ethics of the digital in general not only ensures compliance but most importantly, it prevents undue harm to the population. With good ethical design, AI products can withstand the test of time and enhance regulatory readiness as often ethics tends to inform policy. 

At EthicEdge we aim to be a catalyst for dialogue and awareness on AI ethics in Africa through our ethics courses, such as our Ethical AI design course. Furthermore and more importantly, we are ready to co-design ethical and responsible AI solutions with organisations.