Participatory approach to AI governance to build transparency, foster public trust: IIT Madras

Chennai, Nov 7 (IANS) An inclusive approach taking along diverse stakeholders in AI development will lead to the inclusion of everyone, particularly those historically underrepresented, besides building transparency that will foster public trust, making it easier to gain widespread acceptance, suggested a study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Thursday.

Researchers from the IIT Madras and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, a Delhi-based think-tank, called for participatory approaches in the development and governance of Artificial Intelligence in India and abroad.

“The widespread adoption of AI technologies in the public and private sectors has resulted in them significantly impacting the lives of people in new and unexpected ways,” said Prof. B. Ravindran, Head, Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (WSAI), IIT Madras.

However, it is necessary to “inquire how their design, development, and deployment takes place”, said Ravindran, adding that the study found that people who will be impacted have little to no say in how they are developed.

The study identified the primary reasons why a participatory approach in AI development can improve the outcomes of the AI algorithm as well as enhance the fairness of the process.

It also sought to establish the need and importance of a participatory approach to AI Governance while grounding it in real-world use cases, through an interdisciplinary collaboration.

Even as multiple domains are increasing automation of their operations via AI, the various choices and decisions that go into their setup and execution can get transformed, become opaque, and obfuscate accountability.

The model highlights the importance of involving relevant stakeholders in shaping the design, implementation, and oversight of AI systems, said the team, in the study published in a preprint paper in ‘arXiv’.

To implement participatory AI, the study recommends adopting a participatory approach to AI governance; establishing clear mechanisms for stakeholder identification; developing effective methods for collating and translating stakeholder input; addressing ethical considerations throughout the AI lifecycle; and prioritise human oversight and control.

Ravindran said the recommendations are crucial for addressing several pressing issues in AI development.

“The findings demonstrate how participatory processes can enhance AI solutions, particularly in areas like facial-recognition technology and healthcare. Embracing a participatory approach is the pathway to making AI truly human-centric, a core aspiration of the IndiaAI mission,” said Shehnaz Ahmed, Lead, Law and Technology, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

–IANS

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