The Importance of Understanding AI Risks and Embracing Ethical AI Practices
By: Chris Herbert, Chief Content Officer at Pluralsight
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, it’s essential for individuals and organizations to harness its potential and understand the inherent risks it brings. AI has the power to transform industries and everyday life, but this power comes with a fundamental responsibility to use it ethically.
However, recent Pluralsight research found that, among the tens of thousands of people using our services to learn about AI, only 1.8% actively searched for how to adopt it responsibly. This represents more than just a divide between those learning how to implement AI and those interested in ethical AI – it’s a chasm. Publicly accessible materials show similar trends – significant interest in AI training, but materials on ethical and responsible AI remain largely untouched.
According to Google DeepMind, AI can be misused by manipulating human characteristics such as creating AI-generated audio or video to mimic real people, and using or altering a person’s likeness without consent. Other unethical uses of AI include the “low-tech exploitation” of easily accessible AI capabilities that require minimal technical expertise. Given the potential ease in which AI can be misused, the ethical considerations surrounding it are paramount.
Also Read: Balancing Speed and Safety When Implementing a New AI Service
The Misuse of AI Has Serious Ethical and Legal Implications
AI is revolutionizing industries, from healthcare to finance, retail, and manufacturing. It enhances decision-making, automates repetitive tasks, and drives organizational efficiencies across sectors. However, as AI systems grow in complexity and autonomy, their potential to introduce biases, make incorrect decisions, and even infringe on privacy rights also grows exponentially. Without proper oversight, AI can be misused in ways that have profound ethical and legal implications.
Ethical adoption of AI is critical to mitigate the risks and negative consequences of using AI while maximizing positive outcomes. Unfortunately, 80% of executives and 72% of IT practitioners say their organization often invests in new technology without considering the training employees need to use it properly. Additionally, Pluralsight’s 2024 AI Skills Report found that 90% of executives don’t completely understand their team’s AI skills and proficiency, and only 12% have extensive experience working with AI.
As such, business leaders can’t afford to assume that their internal or external AI practitioners are also trained in ethical and responsible AI adoption. In order to continue evolving in the rapidly changing tech landscape, individuals must have the opportunity to continuously refresh their knowledge of ethical AI as regulations and best practices continue to evolve.
Understanding the Risks that Come With AI is Crucial
One of the most pressing issues in AI is bias. AI models learn from data, and if that data contains biases—whether related to gender, race, or socioeconomic status—the AI can inadvertently perpetuate those biases in decision-making processes. Biased AI can reinforce inequality and discrimination in critical areas like hiring, lending, and law enforcement. Understanding how these biases arise and how to mitigate them is essential for anyone working with AI.
The vast amount of data that AI requires to function effectively can include personal, sensitive information that can be easily exploited if not handled responsibly. Without safeguards, AI systems could inadvertently expose private information or become targets for cyberattacks. Individuals involved in AI development must understand the importance of data privacy and security to protect users’ rights.
AI systems make decisions autonomously, which makes accountability crucial when AI-generated mistakes occur. Careful consideration is needed to ensure that AI systems remain transparent in decision-making. As such, developers and users must advocate for transparency and accountability in AI design and deployment to ensure that AI’s impact remains positive.
As AI tools become more widely used, their uptake has the potential to displace workers and disrupt existing processes. However, AI can also create new job opportunities for individuals who are skilled at using it. As automation increases, understanding AI’s broader economic and societal impacts is essential. By proactively learning how AI will affect the workforce, individuals can prepare for these changes and help create solutions that ensure a fair transition for all stakeholders.
Also Read: The Promises, Pitfalls & Personalization of AI in Healthcare
Leveraging Ethical AI to Benefit Society
In addition to understanding the risks, embracing ethical AI practices is crucial to ensure that AI benefits society as a whole. Ethical AI usage can allow users to promote fairness, transparency, accountability, and respect for individual rights. Key principles that guide the ethical use of AI include:
- Developers must prioritize creating AI models that treat all users fairly, regardless of their background.
- Prioritizing the protection of people’s privacy, and ensuring they have control over their data. Consent must be informed, and data must be anonymized and secured to the highest standards.
- Having transparent and explainable ethical AI systems allows individuals to understand how their data is being used and why AI makes certain decisions
- To ensure that developers are accountable for the AI systems they create, organizations must establish clear governance structures, conduct ongoing audits, and commit to resolving any issues that arise.
Navigating the World of Ethical AI
Education is critical to ensuring that AI is developed and used responsibly. Through training and upskilling, individuals can engage in courses, certifications, and resources to help them build the technical skills needed to understand, develop, and manage AI systems responsibly. This will enable learners of all skill levels to have a clear understanding of the risks associated with AI.
Individuals can implement ethical AI practices by gaining knowledge in topics such as AI ethics and governance, bias detection and mitigation, privacy and data detection, and accountability. Increased knowledge in these critical areas enables users to be better equipped to navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape and make informed decisions that will lead to positive outcomes for individuals, organizations, and society.
The potential for AI to improve lives, create efficiencies, and solve complex problems seems limitless. However, as it continues to be integrated into our daily lives, it’s important to remember that the development of AI must be done with care and responsibility. By understanding its risks and committing to ethical practices, individuals and organizations can ensure that AI will remain a tool for good and will drive innovation, fairness, and positive change across the globe.
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