The AI Governance of AI
Our lives are ruled by data. Not just because it informs companies of what we want, but because it helps us to remember and differentiate what we want, what we need, and what we can ignore. All these decisions give way to patterns, and patterns, when aggregated, give us a picture of ourselves. A world where such patterns follow us, or even are sent ahead of us — to restaurants to let them know if we have allergies, to retail stores to let them know our preferred clothing size —is now so feasible that labeling it science fiction would expose a lack of awareness more than a lack of imagination.
The benefits of AI are making many of our choices easier and more convenient, and in so doing, tightening competition in the space of customer choice. As this evolution happens, the question is less to what extent AI is framing our choices, but rather, how it is shaping them. In such a world, we need to understand when our behavior is being shaped, and by whom.
Clearly, most of us are quite comfortable living in a world where our choices are shaped by AI. Indeed, we already live in such a world: from search engines to smooth traffic flow, many of our daily conveniences are built on the speed provided by the backend. The question we need to ask ourselves when considering AI, and its governance, is whether we are comfortable living in a world where we do not know if, and how, we are being influenced.
References
[i] Piatetsky, Gregory. Did Target really predict a teens pregnancy? The Inside Story May 7 2014 KD nuggets
[ii] Yearsly, Liesl. We need to talk about the power of AI to manipulate humans. June 5 2017. MIT Tech Review
[iii] Mittelstadt, Brent. Wachter, Sandra. Could counterfactuals explain algorithmic decisions without opening the black box? 15 January 2018. Oxford Internet Institute Blog
[iv] Algorithms and Collusion: Competition Policy in the Digital Age. OECD 2017
About the Authors
Mark Esposito
Mark Esposito is a member of the Teaching Faculty at the Harvard University's Division of Continuing, a Professor of business and economics, with an appointment at Hult International Business School. He is an appointed Research Fellow in the Circular Economy Center, at the University of Cambridge's Judge Busines School. He is also a Fellow for the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government in Dubai.
Danny Goh
Danny is a serial entrepreneur and an early stage investor. He is the partner and Commercial Director of Nexus Frontier Tech, an AI advisory business with presence in London, Geneva, Boston and Tokyo to assist CEO and board members of different organisations to build innovative businesses taking full advantage of artificial intelligence technology.
Josh Entsminger
Josh Entsminger is an applied researcher at Nexus Frontier Tech. He additionally serves as a senior fellow at Ecole Des Ponts Business School’s Center for Policy and Competitiveness, a research associate at IE business school’s social innovation initiative, and a research contributor to the world economic forum’s future of production initiative.
Terence Tse
Terence is a co-founder & managing director of Nexus Frontier Tech: An AI Studio. He is also an Associate Professor of Finance at the London campus of ESCP Europe Business School. Terence is the co-author of the bestseller Understanding How the Future Unfolds: Using DRIVE to Harness the Power of Today’s Megatrends. He also wrote Corporate Finance: The Basics.
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