Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2022. Read them in this 14th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
2022 Will Introduce the World's First AI Bill of Rights
By Stephen Ritter, Chief Technology Officer, Mitek
The White House Science and Technology Council made
headlines in 2021 when it announced plans to explore a "bill of rights" for
artificial intelligence technologies. Already the U.S. Department of Commerce
has started sourcing candidates for its new National
Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee, and official legislation for
the proposed AI Bill of Rights will likely not be far behind.
Legislation that limits the non-consensual scope and impact
of AI on consumers is badly needed, as demonstrated recently by the whistleblower
accusations against Meta's use of algorithms to prioritize engagement even
on harmful content. With access to decades of historical user data,
algorithms like these have become adept at predicting a person's response to
any piece of content and pushing more to elicit the highest levels of emotional
response and engagement. AI has no malicious intent in promoting potentially
harmful content, it's simply a machine doing what is has been taught, but that
does not disqualify it from requiring limitations around what it can do and
what data it can access.
Somewhat like the European Union's GDPR, a bill focused on
consumer protections won't limit innovation from companies providing AI
solutions - so long as they obtain consumer's consent to use their data. It
will instead act as a shield against businesses marketing or otherwise using
that data without disclosing it. In a world where our lives and identities
are increasingly linked to our online presence, many experts are now
recognizing the need for limitations on how much of that information AI can
access and potentially influence without our knowledge or consent.
Fortunately, the United States will not be alone in undertaking
this task alone. The E.U. has also released a preliminary
framework with the organization's plans to regulate the use of artificial
intelligence technologies, which could serve as a valuable platform for other
AI legislation to build upon. Critically, the proposed European legislation
also recognizes the distinction between how AI is used (and accordingly, how
its scope may need to be regulated) between different industries such as
banking, healthcare, or retail. There can be no one-size-fits-all approach to a
technology as complex and nuanced as AI, and this is where the National AI
Advisory Committee will play a crucial role. Congress has shown a serious lack
of understanding during hearings on other technologies in the past, and so
having experts from a variety of fields using AI will provide much-needed
insights into how best to regulate it.
While 2022 will likely see the
introduction of the world's first AI Bill of Rights, this will also not be the
end of that process. Just like any important policy, the legislation
will be refined in the years ahead as AI technologies grow and become more
sophisticated. The enactment of these policies could
not come at a more important time, and it will continue to provide much-needed
protections for consumers both in the U.S. and abroad into the future.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Ritter is the Chief Technology
Officer at Mitek. It addition to driving the technical development of Mitek's
award-winning mobile deposit, mobile image capture technology and ID card
verification solutions, Stephen also oversees the company's computer vision and
scientific team at Mitek Labs. He has more than 25 years of experience in
machine learning, security, cloud, and biometric technologies, and brings to
the team an innovative source of technical leadership and expertise. Stephen
holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Cognitive Science from the University of
California, San Diego and has co-authored eight patents.