AI and data, towards more responsibility...

Context and issues

Before addressing the concrete issues of responsible data, we suggest you quickly review the context that led us to ask this question.

The advent of digital capitalism in a few dates. First of all, the beginning of the 21st century saw the emergence of a first phenomenon: the birth of a new kind of companies: the startups. Most of these new models offered digital services that were considered innovative and promising at the time. This phenomenon did not fail to attract a plethora of investors, all looking for a new business opportunity.

However, in 2001-2002, without anyone having been able to predict it, the crash occurred and the internet bubble burst. This is when several questions emerged: why did this new model burst so quickly? And above all, how to explain such a sudden collapse? The immaturity of a market with no viable business model was the main reason given.

 

GAFAM, the foundations of a sustainable system

Despite its tumultuous beginnings, digital capitalism has not said its last word. Indeed, the rise of Gafam* marks the beginning of a second phase. This is illustrated by the digital exploitation of the human experience, initiated by Larry Page and the Google model, among others.

 

The advent of Big Data

The vision was there, even before Google had the technology to achieve such a result. The democratization of increasingly sophisticated digital devices and the exponential development of social networks have forever transformed the place of data in modern societies.

Our private lives are now used as raw material, our digital actions are collected, recorded, monitored and finally transformed into behavioral data. All the players in the industry have copied this model, starting with the biggest ones, such as Facebook and Google. However, the responsible use of data and AI does not seem to be at the heart of these players' concerns.

 

AI, a tool for data transformation

Today's digital factories no longer have large chimneys... They rely on the collection, refining and exploitation of these oceans of data. The arrival of artificial intelligence in the operational sphere marks a real revolution in the use of data. Based on mathematical concepts that are sometimes empirical, AI feeds on this data to create "products" that support an economy based on the analysis and prediction of human behavior.

These new markets for online advertisers and others are the source of more than 90% of Google's and Facebook's revenues. These companies have succeeded in turning our personal information into the black gold of the 21st century, and are thus continuing to expand their commercial empires.

 

What place for ethics in the New World?

These observations inevitably raise serious reflections about ethics. Indeed, the control of data and AI will condition the daily life of future generations.

 

A notion that struggles to be heard

However, at this stage, no one seems to be mature on the notion of ethics and responsibility of data exploitation. The major international powers seem to be deeply convinced that the sector must be regulated, with the European Union in the lead. Regulations exist, and hundreds of bills have been introduced in recent years. The legislator's goal is to protect online privacy and digital disinformation.

The use of AI today is torn between three factors: its power, its overselling and its denunciation. Nevertheless, it remains a formidable tool provided that it is endowed with essential principles of responsibility:

• Principles of ethical responsibility by protecting against the biases that it is likely to cause or accentuate. The latter could lead to major upheavals, injustices and inequalities.
• The need to ensure transparency and explicability of how the algorithms work and the data from which they were trained.
• Accountability principles around the data that AI algorithms make use of.
• Principles of accountability against the abuse of business ethics with false promises or fraudulent and biased exploitation of AI concepts and data.

 

Data and AI management: how to act as a responsible company?

From a business perspective, what then does the notion of responsibility around AI and data mean? How do we go about adopting responsible behavior? The answer lies in the question. At the very least, it is about finding a responsible and ethical balance between the interests of the company, the interests of its ecosystem and the legal frameworks that allow us to regulate behavior and rules.

The company making use of these concepts must clearly express its responsibility for the collection and use of the data, as well as the AI principles it may be trading:

• The responsibility lies first and foremost in the use and therefore the collection of data. Rather than pursuing a strategy based on the profusion or collection of data at all costs, it is more important to focus on the quality (origin, freshness) and targeting of the data by thinking upstream about usage.
• The responsibility extends to placing more emphasis on the ecological footprint of data storage and processing. The mad rush to collect and store data is exponentially multiplying the amount of data stored in data centers.
• It continues with collective education: teaching about usage, ethics, societal and legal responsibilities, training the staff in charge of collection so that they have the technical and legal knowledge to ensure their integrity (ethics).
• The classification and protection of data, defining its criticality and scope in terms of impact, and implementing more or less extensive security measures are all guiding principles for which the company also has a responsibility.

 

Responsible data and AI, towards a new era

Having a responsible data management policy also means being transparent in the monetization of data. It means agreeing to make the explanation of data use explicit and accessible. In the end, it is above all a matter of being part of an ethical approach via a logic of reciprocity. Each contributor in the chain should contribute to the value created and share the benefits.

To conclude, we may be on the verge of a paradigm shift. Indeed, today's world seems to be moving towards a more united exchange and sharing of data. Data and its exploitation probably have an important role to play in building tomorrow's world in a more sustainable way, without calling into question the economic model of companies in the development of their activity.

 

*GAFAM is the acronym for the Web giants - Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft - which are the five major American firms dominating the digital market. They are also sometimes referred to as the Big Five, or " The Five ".