I’m still pinching myself to have had the opportunity and privilege to join a government AI roundtable yesterday, focussing on the proposals in the AI Regulation White Paper. It was great to join a diverse group of leaders – as one of us said, each bringing a different piece of the jigsaw puzzle, but with great alignment across us.
My perspective
⭐️Although AI is new and rapidly developing, situations of powerful global organisations, intense commercial pressure, and fragmented regulatory landscape are not. Think Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. Lessons were learned then, resulting in regulatory reform and industry-wide transformation to establish a culture of safety.
⭐️Our risks from AI are not in the futuristic AI domination scenarios, but already present in the disparate impacts and harm to underserved and vulnerable communities we see happening now.
⭐️Let’s learn lessons now from other industries, to avert AI’s Deepwater Horizon event. We must move quickly to strengthen and clarify regulation and establish a culture of responsible innovation.
⭐️In the interim, incentives are needed for organisations to prioritise responsible, inclusive innovation. In Inclusioneering’ equity, diversity and inclusion practice, we see UKRI funding embedding EDI requirements to be an effective catalyst for organisations, who are responding positively, and innovatively, to embed EDI into their work
⭐️Diverse inputs are needed to fully understand the risks and impacts, as well as opportunities – across all stakeholder communities. I recommend an inclusive design approach to development of regulation
I will be spending time to write papers on these thoughts, so more to come on all these topics. Drop me a message using the contact form or in the comments if you’d like to receive a copy. Which are you most interested to explore more deeply?
