Need for policies to tame algorithm bias

In a world where technology is evolving at breakneck speed with AI taking over, the people using it need to be safeguarded by ensuring the rule of law and human rights are upheld.

Policies have been created to protect companies and individuals using AI in their daily work. Technology such as AI is beneficial to many people, but there are threats and risks that come with utilising it.

AI Policy is a public policy that maximises the benefits of AI, while minimising its potential costs and risks to users.

Unep data scientist Kennedy Wangari says he works at the interface of science, policy and practice to tackle the global crisis facing nature.

He leverages AI in deep learning technologies to support marine plastic litter clean-up missions.

"There is a rise of racially and gender-biased discriminative algorithms that don’t provide ways for marginalised people or groups to escape discrimination," he said.

"The algorithms also reproduce new forms of inequality along social, economic, racial and political lines."

He said that even with the General Data Protection Regulation, which is considered to be the strongest privacy and security law in the world, the European Union is leading the way with the EU Artificial Intelligence Act.

"Once adopted in 2024 the regulation will have significant consequences for developers, deployers and companies that develop, sell or use AI systems,” he said.

Wangari said the consequences include the introduction of legal obligations and a monitoring and enforcement regime with hefty penalties for non-compliance.

Businesses must warn users when an AI algorithm is used to decide what content to display to them and provide them with the choice to stop being targeted.

"The law also forbids the use of algorithms that present consumers with varying rates based on personal information," he said.

The Artificial Intelligence Practioners’ Guide: Kenya has created efficient AI systems that can track and mitigate risk and bias in AI models.

The government has enforced laws and regulations according to the constitution, which guarantees rights and freedoms.

In the constitution, Article 11(2) c provides for intellectual property rights, which lay a foundation for assessing the impact of AI on IP.

The constitution cites the right to equality and freedom from discrimination, rights to privacy, rights to freedom of expression, right to access information and ensures consumers of products and services are afforded protection.

The government has progressively over the years taken steps to enact regulatory frameworks that support the ethical and responsible use and application of AI across various sectors of the economy.

The regulatory frameworks include the establishment of the Distributed Ledgers Technology and Artificial Intelligence Taskforce in 2018, which created a strategy to encourage the development and adoption of new technologies, such as AI.

It also provided recommendations on how the government can leverage new technologies.