CIOs urged to act as global AI regulations shape up

Governments seen stepping up AI policing

With a growing international push for regulation in response to the widespread integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across industries, half of the world’s governments are projected to enforce responsible AI through regulatory measures, policies, and an emphasis on data privacy by 2026 according to Gartner.

In an interview, Anushree Verma, Director Analyst at Gartner, highlights the implications of such regulations for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and strategies for implementing responsible AI within their organisations.

What are the consequences of governments enforcing responsible AI?

Responsible AI regulations will erect geographic borders in the digital world and create a web of competing regulations from different governments to protect nations and their populations from unethical or otherwise undesirable applications of AI and GenAI.

This will constrain IT leaders’ ability to maximise foreign AI and GenAI products throughout their organisations. These regulations will require AI developers to focus on more AI ethics, transparency and privacy through responsible AI usage across organisations.

‘Responsible AI’ is an umbrella term for making the appropriate business and ethical choices when adopting AI in the organisation’s context.

Examples include being transparent with AI, mitigating bias in algorithms, securing models against subversion and abuse, and protecting the privacy of customer information and regulatory compliance. Responsible AI operationalises organisational responsibilities and practices that ensure positive and accountable AI development and utilisation.

The development and use of responsible AI will be crucial for AI products and service developers and organisations that use AI tools. Failure to comply will expose organisations to ethical scrutiny by citizens, leading to significant financial, reputational and legal risks.

How soon will responsible AI go mainstream?

Responsible AI is three years from early majority adoption due to accelerated AI adoption, particularly GenAI, and growing attention to associated regulatory implications.

Responsible AI will impact all AI applications across industries. In the near term, more regulated industries, such as financial services, healthcare, technology and government, will remain the early adopters of responsible AI.

However, responsible AI will also play an essential role in less-regulated industries by helping build consumer trust, foster adoption, and mitigate financial and legal risks.

How can organisations future-proof their GenAI projects?

There are several actions organisations can consider when it comes to future-proofing their GenAI projects:

• Monitor and incorporate the evolving compliance requirements of responsible AI from different governments by developing a framework that maps the organisation’s GenAI portfolio of products and services to the other nations’ AI regulatory requirements.
• Understand, implement and utilise responsible AI practices contextualised to the organisation. This can be done by determining a curriculum for responsible AI and establishing a structured approach to educate and create visibility across the organisation, engage stakeholders and identify the appropriate use cases and solutions for implementation.
• Operationalise AI trust, risk and security management (AI TRiSM) in user-centric solutions by integrating responsible AI to accelerate adoption and improve user experience.
• Ensure service provider accountability for responsible AI governance by enforcing contractual obligations and mitigating the impact of risks arising out of unethical and noncompliant behaviours or outcomes from uncontrolled and unexplainable biases from AI solutions.

Featured image: New regulations will require AI developers to focus on more AI ethics, transparency and privacy concerns. Credit: Steve Johnson