Linking Artificial Intelligence Principles (LAIP)

3. Scientific Integrity and Information Quality

The government’s regulatory and non regulatory approaches to AI applications should leverage scientific and technical information and processes. Agencies should hold information, whether produced by the government or acquired by the government from third parties, that is likely to have a clear and substantial influence on important public policy or private sector decisions (including those made by consumers) to a high standard of quality, transparency, and compliance. Consistent with the principles of scientific integrity in the rulemaking and guidance processes, agencies should develop regulatory approaches to AI in a manner that both informs policy decisions and fosters public trust in AI. Best practices include transparently articulating the strengths, weaknesses, intended optimizations or outcomes, bias mitigation, and appropriate uses of the AI application’s results. Agencies should also be mindful that, for AI applications to produce predictable, reliable, and optimized outcomes, data used to train the AI system must be of sufficient quality for the intended use.

Principle: Principles for the Stewardship of AI Applications, Jan 13, 2020

Published by The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), United States

Related Principles

· 1.3. Transparency and explainability

AI Actors should commit to transparency and responsible disclosure regarding AI systems. To this end, they should provide meaningful information, appropriate to the context, and consistent with the state of art: i. to foster a general understanding of AI systems; ii. to make stakeholders aware of their interactions with AI systems, including in the workplace; iii. to enable those affected by an AI system to understand the outcome; and, iv. to enable those adversely affected by an AI system to challenge its outcome based on plain and easy to understand information on the factors, and the logic that served as the basis for the prediction, recommendation or decision.

Published by G20 Ministerial Meeting on Trade and Digital Economy in G20 AI Principles, Jun 09, 2019

· 5. The Principle of Explicability: “Operate transparently”

Transparency is key to building and maintaining citizen’s trust in the developers of AI systems and AI systems themselves. Both technological and business model transparency matter from an ethical standpoint. Technological transparency implies that AI systems be auditable, comprehensible and intelligible by human beings at varying levels of comprehension and expertise. Business model transparency means that human beings are knowingly informed of the intention of developers and technology implementers of AI systems. Explicability is a precondition for achieving informed consent from individuals interacting with AI systems and in order to ensure that the principle of explicability and non maleficence are achieved the requirement of informed consent should be sought. Explicability also requires accountability measures be put in place. Individuals and groups may request evidence of the baseline parameters and instructions given as inputs for AI decision making (the discovery or prediction sought by an AI system or the factors involved in the discovery or prediction made) by the organisations and developers of an AI system, the technology implementers, or another party in the supply chain.

Published by The European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence in Draft Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, Dec 18, 2018

Ensure “Interpretability” of AI systems

Principle: Decisions made by an AI agent should be possible to understand, especially if those decisions have implications for public safety, or result in discriminatory practices. Recommendations: Ensure Human Interpretability of Algorithmic Decisions: AI systems must be designed with the minimum requirement that the designer can account for an AI agent’s behaviors. Some systems with potentially severe implications for public safety should also have the functionality to provide information in the event of an accident. Empower Users: Providers of services that utilize AI need to incorporate the ability for the user to request and receive basic explanations as to why a decision was made.

Published by Internet Society, "Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Policy Paper" in Guiding Principles and Recommendations, Apr 18, 2017

· 1.3. Transparency and explainability

AI Actors should commit to transparency and responsible disclosure regarding AI systems. To this end, they should provide meaningful information, appropriate to the context, and consistent with the state of art: i. to foster a general understanding of AI systems, ii. to make stakeholders aware of their interactions with AI systems, including in the workplace, iii. to enable those affected by an AI system to understand the outcome, and, iv. to enable those adversely affected by an AI system to challenge its outcome based on plain and easy to understand information on the factors, and the logic that served as the basis for the prediction, recommendation or decision.

Published by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence, May 22, 2019

6. Flexibility

When developing regulatory and non regulatory approaches, agencies should pursue performance based and flexible approaches that can adapt to rapid changes and updates to AI applications. Rigid, design based regulations that attempt to prescribe the technical specifications of AI applications will in most cases be impractical and ineffective, given the anticipated pace with which AI will evolve and the resulting need for agencies to react to new information and evidence. Targeted agency conformity assessment schemes, to protect health and safety, privacy, and other values, will be essential to a successful, and flexible, performance based approach. To advance American innovation, agencies should keep in mind international uses of AI, ensuring that American companies are not disadvantaged by the United States’ regulatory regime.

Published by The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), United States in Principles for the Stewardship of AI Applications, Jan 13, 2020