Risk and AI can mimic or even worsen human prejudice, warns European Commission

17.05.2023
The European Commissioner for Justice has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) can mimic or even worsen human prejudice, potentially leading to discriminatory outcomes in areas such as law enforcement and healthcare.

The Commissioner called for safeguards to be put in place to prevent bias in AI systems, including greater transparency and accountability, as well as increased diversity in the development and deployment of AI technologies.

The risks posed by AI bias have been highlighted in recent years, with several high-profile cases demonstrating how algorithms can reproduce and even amplify societal biases. Ms. Jourová pointed to facial recognition software as one famous example, which “can exhibit high misclassification rates when used on some groups.”

To address these concerns, when choosing a new vendor, banks should choose providers:

• With proven AI capabilities
• That prioritizes ethical AI without lacking in detection performance
• With granular customer profiles, to ensure a granular risk assessment
• With transparent audit trails and model explainability

Finally, the article notes that the issue of AI bias is likely to become increasingly important as AI technologies become more prevalent in society, and calls for policymakers, industry leaders, and other stakeholders to work together to ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a way that is both ethical and equitable.

(Source: AML Intelligence)