Brainpool AI had the privilege of once again attending all sessions of Inspired AI’s Summit yesterday. Following suit from the first post in our Summit Series, we’ve collated our top takeaways from stand-out sessions for our readers and believe they provide useful insights for companies looking to implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.

This week's episode surrounded ‘The State of AI’ and we’ve picked out two sessions that were of particular interest to us at Brainpool: ‘How Humans Judge Machines’ and ‘Is Data the New Currency’.

The Perception & Responsibility of AI:

Cesar A Hidalgo (ANITI Chair, University of Toulouse) provided Inspired AI Summit audiences with a thought-provoking look into how humans judge machines at yesterday’s event.

Hidalgo’s insights were shaped around key questions, such as whether people and machines that make the same mistakes provoke the same reactions in humans. By running through multiple thought-experiments, Hidalgo made clear that in the case of accidental mishaps, machines are often perceived as more harmful agents than their human counterparts. The actions of humans are, on the whole, seen to be more positive and warrant more credit for reasons of effort and attempting to do right by subjects. However, the counter conclusion is reached when negative consequences may have come about intentionally. In this case, humans are more likely to forgive and excuse the actions of a machine than they are a human.

Against this background, Hidalgo made clear the fact that humans and machines are judged against different metrics. Whilst the latter are judged on the extent to which their actions are deemed ‘wrong’, the former are judged on the level of intent behind their actions. In any case, the assigning of responsibility and agency to AI is not clear-cut. If anything, the difficulty in assigning responsibility to machines makes clearer the need for both human and artificial input in decision-making and business processes. At Brainpool AI, we believe in leveraging the synergies of both so as to achieve the best possible advantage for your business.

Data As The New Currency:

The Is Data the New Currency talk by Mastercard’s Chief Data Officer, JoAnn Stonier, was particularly insightful. Drawing on other sessions’ suggestions of leveraging data, the session bridged the gap between effective use of this information and the responsibilities that surround it. As most people working in the world right now will know, Covid-19 has forced companies and consumers to undertake rapid switches to digital spaces. This has resulted in new demands for data, as Stonier pointed out, for additional market and demand planning. Such shifts require new ecosystems and methods of data management.

Innovation in this area is clearly essential, as without effective data governance systems it will be difficult for companies to deal with shifts to digital and post-Covid uncertainties. Leveraging data, however, does not come without responsibility. This was perhaps one of the most important points from Stonier’s session, that consideration for the purpose and use of data must be taken into account. This brings up questions all businesses should ask themselves, about the long-term use, beneficiaries and risks of data usage.

Proper consideration must be taken concerning the collection, use of and access to your data to avoid potential short- and long-term risks. Poor management of access might result in damage to the business, losing the insights which could bring competitive advantage, or even negatively impact customer loyalty. In the future, when utilizing this data as part of Artificial Intelligence development, poorly collected data could result in biases in the AI. It is clear that businesses are obligated to assign responsibility for their data management early on, to avoid future issues.

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