A visit to India to vote for safe and ethical AI

It gives us great pleasure to introduce the first column in a series by AI Ethicist Patricia McAlernon...

The lighting of a candle in the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi signified the beginning of a global meeting of experts to discuss responsible, safe and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). I was attending the event as part of the Irish delegation with over 70 countries represented with each country having one vote to shape the future of AI standards.

Most of the delegates had arrived a few days beforehand and were greeted at Delhi airport by a wall of nine sacred hands, each one holding a lotus flower. As a foreign national, I had applied online for an electronic visa to visit India with a letter of invitation provided by the meeting organisers, the Bureau of Indian Standards. Biometric registration kiosks at Delhi airport subsequently scanned my passport, fingerprints and facial image. The kiosks have been shown to help speed up the immigration process for arriving passengers using AI technology.

It was my first visit to India and I was looking forward to a reunion of the AI experts I had connected with in previous meetings in Versailles and Turino as part of the Irish delegation. Some female AI experts had decided not to travel to New Delhi due to safety concerns and chose instead to attend the meeting online. Unfortunately the delegates from China could only attend the meeting remotely because they did not receive the necessary letter of invitation in time to obtain their visa.

Throughout the week delegates attended meetings in person or online, which addressed issues such as AI trustworthiness and the requirement for all AI systems to be lawful, ethical and robust. AI topics were discussed in designated working groups for a total of five days. The role of the working group on AI functional safety was to ensure AI-powered systems operate safely and reliably.

Midway through the week there was an open day attended by local industries and researchers who were given an opportunity to network with international AI standards experts. Speakers from Japan, Singapore, Australia and India presented their view on AI governance, which involves the responsible regulation of the technology in the private and public sector. A professor from the Republic of Korea gave a presentation on responsible AI, which considers the overall impact of AI on society.

A representative from the USA spoke on the importance of data and compared it to oil, which required refining to be useful. The speaker referenced Clive Humby (2006) and reported that the world was already concerned about the environmental impact of data model training and running out of good data. The need for the careful disposal of data when it is no longer required was also highlighted as being most important. A presentation was also given on the future use of personal AI systems, which will filter out fake news, advertisements and eliminate online behaviour manipulation and accidental purchases.

On the fifth and final day of the meeting each country’s head of delegation (HOD) cast their vote on AI issues discussed in the working groups throughout the week. HODs verbally agreed, disagreed or abstained by raising a white piece of paper bearing their country’s name, which was referred to as “putting up your tent”.

Before leaving Delhi, I took the opportunity to visit the Bahai House of Worship known as the Lotus Temple. The design of the building was inspired by the lotus flower with nine doors leading into a central hall. The lotus is India’s national flower and is associated with spirituality and knowledge. It begins life in muddy waters and perseveres until it rises out of the darkness to bloom. Like a lotus flower we can survive the murky waters of a world swamped with AI technology.

Over the coming months I will be writing about AI to help readers look to an AI-future with an open mind. While waiting in the departure terminal in Delhi airport, the lotus flower was once again on display at the base of a sculpture of Surya, the Sun God. In the same way as the lotus needs light to grow, we also need knowledge to survive living in challenging times with AI.