USCIB, OECD, BIAC Roundtable on AI Considers Path Forward to Make AI More Trustworthy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to drive economic growth and commercial activity, as well as to improve lives. AI deployment and applications have swept across many sectors and have been embraced by a broad array of companies, beyond traditional “tech companies.” However, different frameworks and standards for AI have also emerged, aimed at ensuring that AI systems are “human-centric” and “trustworthy” and to safeguard against AI misuse that can undermine personal privacy and online security protections, support decision-making biases that exacerbate social inequality and cause disruptions in the labor market.

Against this backdrop, USCIB launched the Joseph H. Alhadeff Digital Economy Roundtable Series as a virtual event on April 26. The event was a joint initiative of USCIB, Business at OECD (BIAC) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and addressed the topic “Advancing Implementation of the OECD AI Principles Across Sectors.” Representatives from companies such as IKEA, LEGO and Walmart discussed non-traditional use cases of AI in delivering products and services and shared experiences about how their respective companies are assessing and addressing potential risks of AI.

“What we’re seeing is that AI can increase safety and quality of the associate and customer experience,” said Walmart Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel of Digital Citizenship Nuala O’Connor. “As long as we are fair, accountable, transparent, and we embed those values into the use of AI, we believe AI can be a trust enhancer. Digital trust is essential to our brand and our company in the future, and we continue to strive to be the world’s most trusted retailer.”

“If done right and consistent with principles, including the OECD AI Principles, the impact of AI can be positive,” added LEGO Global Lead on Digital Policy Adam Ingle. “But there are workforce challenges and other risks that we can’t walk blindly into. The nature of our conversation on this panel shows that everyone is aware of the risk and that we’ll find a solution that is a net benefit.”

During the panel on “Government and Standards Setting Perspectives,” experts from both the OECD and government agencies examined how ground-breaking AI Principles provide a foundational reference for companies across all industries so they might feel more confident that their AI deployment is trustworthy.

“The OECD previewed work aimed at promoting global consistency in frameworks and standards to ensure that AI systems deployed are trustworthy, human-centric, accountable and ethical,” said USCIB Vice President for ICT Policy Barbara Wanner.

Furthermore, representatives from the U.S. and UK, as well as technical organizations such as DG-Connect and IEEE, discussed how they will be working with the OECD to identify common guideposts to assess AI risk and its trustworthiness. They also reviewed their own frameworks, responded to business concerns and considered the prospects for greater global interoperability.

Participants also heard from AI pioneers such as Amazon Web Services, Google, GSMA, Microsoft and RELX on the way forward.

“Standards will be our short cut to interoperability,” said Marc Etienne Ouimette, global lead for AI policy at Amazon Web Services. “It’s likely that different jurisdictions will have different risk tolerances, or different understandings of what constitutes high risk AI. Notwithstanding this, standards (and audits and assessments against these) will be the method by which we will define what good development/deployment is (what the “good” is). When jurisdictions embrace international standards, they allow for differences in regulatory approaches while ensuring access to and alignment with global markets. This provides the right type of enabling environment for responsible AI, a key OECD recommendation.”

USCIB has released a report of the Roundtable. Please click here to access the summary report.

Staff Contact:   Kira Yevtukhova

Deputy Director, Marketing and Communications
Tel: 202.617.3160

Kira Yevtukhova manages USCIB’s print and online publications, including the website, e-newsletter and quarterly magazine, and serves as the organization’s digital media strategist. Prior to this role, Kira worked for over five years within USCIB’s Policy Department, focusing on climate change, environment, nutrition, health, and chemicals related policy issues. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and has an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
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