FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2019

CONTACTS: Emily Reineke, CAE, Managing Director, ITechLaw, +1 703 506 2895 EST

ITechLaw Publishes New Book and Opens Global Public Comment Period on Draft Principles for Responsible Artificial Intelligence

[[{“fid”:”1574″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:”Responsible AI Book Cover”,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:false},”type”:”media”,”field_deltas”:{“1”:{“format”:”default”,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:”Responsible AI Book Cover”,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:false}},”attributes”:{“alt”:”Responsible AI Book Cover”,”class”:”media-element file-default”,”data-delta”:”1″}}]]McLEAN, VA: The International Technology Law Association (ITechLaw) has published Responsible AI: A Global Policy Framework, a new in-depth review that proposes ethical guideposts to encourage the responsible development, deployment and use of artificial intelligence.

The publication, written by a multi-disciplinary group of 54 technology law experts, industry representatives and researchers from 16 countries across the globe, develops a detailed and actionable framework composed of eight core principles:

• Ethical Purpose and Societal Benefit,
• Accountability,
• Transparency and Explainability,
• Fairness and Non-discrimination,
• Safety and Reliability,
• Open Data and Fair Competition,
• Privacy, and
• AI and Intellectual Property.

ITechLaw invites all stakeholders — industry representatives, policy-makers, researchers, and general public – to read the publication and its accompanying draft policy framework and to submit feedback at www.itechlaw.org/ResponsibleAI or to ResponsibleAI@itechlaw.org.  The public consultation process period opens today and will run until September 15, 2019. Comments will be considered by the authors and ITechLaw in anticipation of an updated second-edition of the policy framework, to be published before the end of the year.

“The accelerating rate of progress in AI research, development and deployment is both exhilarating and alarming,” says ITechLaw President Charles Morgan. “AI has enormous potential for positive societal impact, but also for unintended and grave consequences.  This places a great weight of ethical responsibility on all those who are engaged in the development and deployment of such AI systems.  It is not surprising, therefore, that not only policy-makers, but also industry representatives and AI researchers are looking for solid guideposts.  In this context, the authors hope that the publication will make a valuable contribution to the ongoing efforts to promote responsible AI.”

The book is a call to action for stakeholders, including the general public, to actively participate in a dialogue regarding the component features of responsible AI.  In the review, each of the eight principles is treated in depth, first through the enunciation of a general principle, then through a detailed analysis of the principle’s contours and finally as expressed in an actionable policy framework.

Among the actions suggested are

• grounding the framework in the human-centric principle of “accountability” that makes organizations developing, deploying, or using AI systems accountable for harm caused by AI;
• addressing concerns about whether AI systems should be given ‘legal personality’;
• promoting a context-sensitive framework for transparency and explainability;
• elaborating the notion of elegant failure, as well as revisiting the “tragic choices” dilemma;
• supporting open-data practices that help encourage AI innovation while ensuring reasonable and fair privacy, consent, and competitiveness; and
• encouraging responsible AI by design.

ITechLaw has been the leading global organization for legal professionals focused on technology and law since 1971. Its membership represents six continents, 70 countries, and a broad spectrum of expertise in the technology law field.