AI Webinar Takeaways: Harry Duddridge

Recently, we hosted our first webinar for AI experts with Harry Duddridge, our client partnership lead. The focal point of our discussion revolved around ethical frameworks, with a particular emphasis on the current lack of regulation and bias. It was a remarkable experience, as we had the privilege of engaging with a diverse array of speakers from academic backgrounds in sociotech and AI Ethics Research to seasoned industry experts.

We discussed ethical frameworks which was broken down into topics around how facial recognition and its' mainstream adoption is different to monitoring children in classrooms with facial recognition. The speakers engaged in debates concerning the significant influence of different cultures, ethnicities, and values on what constitutes as suitable facial recognition practices.

The aim from these discussions is to acknowledge how organisations can establish accountability using a top-down approach with board members. This approach prioritises the maintenance of ethical integrity aside from profit and profit; thus reducing the tension between commercial success and ethics. Consensus emerged on the pivotal role of workplace implications in shaping the future of AI. Rather than fearing AI's emergence and adoption, the discussion focused on its integration into everyday life, such as facial recognition and LLM (Large Language Models).

The topic of data transparency was explored with how we can change and improve this moving forward to ensure datasets obtained do not hold WERID biases and prioritise demographics, especially in public service environments where biased datasets hold real world impacts. Recognising the importance of diversity in the teams responsible for developing AI technologies was identified as a critical step in reducing bias.

Organisations have a responsibility to ensure their AI practices are ethically maintained and translated publicly despite the current lack of regulation. We look forward to exploring how organisations can take practical findings and value from these discussions as well as organisations' current practices to combat the lack of regulation.

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