15 AI Ethics Leaders Showing The World The Way Of The Future – Forbes

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 01: A view of a poster about ethical AI during the 2018 New York Times ... [+] Dealbook on November 1, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images for The New York Times)

Forget the negative comments, the unsure colleagues, and general science fiction painted pictures of AI that you have been fed your entire life. From my personal experience as an AI proponent for the past three decades I know that the power AI has for doing good is exponentially better than anything negative.

There is only one thing that causes AI to do harm. People.

Fortunately for all of us there are leaders and visionaries across the globe that are paving the way and setting examples for every business to follow when implementing and leveraging the massive power that AI possesses. These people are AI Ethicists.

Qualifications of an AI Ethicist

To start, an AI ethicist generally should have an understanding of AI tools and technology of the business and the industry and the specific AI ethical traps that exist in them, good communication skills and the ability to work across organizational boundaries and regulatory, legal, and policy knowledge.

Beyond this skill set, the ideal AI ethicist for a company would possess a diverse perspective, have in their background interdisciplinary work experience, deep understanding of processes and policies both internal and governmental and be an excellent public speaker with the ability to project confidence when training or presenting to both internal stakeholders and external partners or clients.

This position currently exists at many companies under different names such as Data Privacy and Ethics Lead (Qantas), Chief AI Ethics Lead (US Army Artificial Intelligence Task Force), Director of Responsible Innovation & Responsible Innovation Manager (Facebook) and several others.

Though across the industry there are countless people filling the role of an AI ethicist, here is a list of fifteen you should study and follow as your companys use of AI evolves. They set the proper example of how to implement and scale the use of AI in a safe and ethical manner while simultaneously positively affecting the bottom line.

AI Ethics text on document above brown envelope and stethoscope. Healthcare or medical concept

COL David Barnes

Professor, United States Military Academy (USMA) and Deputy Head of the Department of English and Philosophy, Chief AI Ethics Officer for the US Army's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Task Force

In addition to his life of service to his country Col. Barnes' work focuses on how to include more diverse, rigorous, and meaningful conversation surrounding the responsible design, development, and deployment of AI systems among government, industry and academia.

Haniyeh Mahmoudian

Global AI Ethicist at DataRobot

BRAZIL - 2021/05/11: In this photo illustration the DataRobot logo seen displayed on a smartphone ... [+] screen. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Recently appointed to her position at DataRobot Dr. Mahmoudian stated that When used properly, AI can be a force for good and help contribute solutions to some of societys most pressing issues, such as access to equitable healthcare, ...The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired unprecedented interest in AI. However, to accomplish those goals we must ensure machine learning systems have trustworthy and ethical parameters built in from the start.

Will Griffin

Chief Ethics Officer at Hypergiant

In a recent interview with Apogeo Spatial Griffin discussed that at Hypergiant their process is to evangelize to the developers and the designers the burden of proof ... is on the developers and the designers to be creative and imagine all of the impacts on...society and to create a technology in a way that minimizes those impacts and maximizes the benefits.

Francesca Rossi

IBM fellow and AI Ethics Global Leader

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NY - JANUARY 13: A general view of IBM's 'Watson' computing system at a press ... [+] conference to discuss the upcoming Man V. Machine "Jeopardy!" competition at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center on January 13, 2011 in Yorktown Heights, New York. (Photo by Ben Hider/Getty Images)

In her work at IBM she is striving to provide consumer and industrial users of cognitive systems a vital voice in the advancement of the defining technology of this century one that will foster collaboration between people and machines to solve some of the worlds most enduring problems in a way that is both trustworthy and beneficial.

Paula Goldman

Chief Ethical and Humane Use Officer at Salesforce

Photo by: STRF/STAR MAX/IPx 2021 3/23/21 Salesforce Tower is seen in New York City.

Working for a data gathering and organizing giant like Salesforce ethical use of AI and data must be paramount. In her role, Goldman is working daily to make sure that the solutions that we develop are developed inclusively and with those populations (communities of color) top of mind, with and for those populations...And so we're actively involving diverse experts...And we're looking out for ways in which products could be unintentionally misused.

Steve Mills

Chief AI Ethics Officer and Managing Director & Partner at BCG

BRAZIL - 2019/07/11: In this photo illustration a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) logo seen displayed ... [+] on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In his work Mills shows an excellent example to try and emulate in his insistence that An AI product is never just an algorithm. It's a full end-to-end system and all the [related] business processes...You could go to great lengths to ensure that your algorithm is as bias-free as possible but you have to think about the whole end-to-end value chain from data acquisition to algorithms to how the output is being used within the business."

Marian Croak

VP of Engineering Google

A man walks past the logo of the US multinational technology company Google during the VivaTech ... [+] trade fair ( Viva Technology), on May 24, 2018 in Paris. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)

Dr. Croaks work at Google is integral to the way AI affects nearly everyones life, especially all of us with a smartphone or a Gmail address. A tremendous question she asks that I agree with is around the fact that theres a lot of dissension, a lot of conflict in terms of trying to standardize on normative definitions of these principles. Whose definition of fairness, or safety, are we going to use? ...what Id like to do is have people have the conversation in a more diplomatic way, perhaps, than were having it now, so we can truly advance this field.

Elizabeth Adams

Chief AI Ethics Advisor at Paravison

Adams work around Face recognition technology is forced on its development and deployment around ethical intentions and safeguards. Her expertise in addressing AI racial bias will be integral in a future of ethical use of AI that contains no inherent bias.

Alka Patel

Chief, Responsible AI at Department of Defense, Joint AI Center

Patels' work at the DoD focuses on how to operationalize the five DoD AI Ethics Principles; Responsible, Equitable, Traceable, Reliable and Governable. This includes the mission ofputting these into practice in the design, development, deployment, and use of AI-enabled capabilities. Knowing our Department of Defense is taking the subject of AI Ethics this seriously gives me even more confidence that this is an issue that will continue to get the support it needs at the highestlevelsfor the foreseeable future.

Linda Leopold

Head of Responsible AI & Data at H&M Group

(Original Caption) New York City: H&M is a Swedish clothing store on Fifth Avenue. (Photo by Erik ... [+] Freeland/CORBIS SABA/Corbis via Getty Images)

Leopolds mission at H&M is to leverage AI to achieve a climate positive value chain by 2040. Through their use of AI-driven demand prediction is at the heart of their mission to optimize the supply chain to eliminate waste and redundancies. This mission will not only help the bottom line, but also do a part to save the environment.

Natasha Crampton

Microsoft Chief Responsible AI Officer

REDMOND, UNITED STATES - 2021/04/27: A logo marking the edge of the Microsoft corporate campus in ... [+] Redmond, United States. The company announced its Q2 earnings on 27th Apr 2021. (Photo by Toby Scott/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Ms. Crampton is leading Microsofts mission in the field of responsible AI to put their principles into practice by taking a people-centered approach to the research, development, and deployment of AI. As is the case at another tech giant Google, Microsoft is dedicating itself to the ethical use of AI is paramount in ensuring an ethical future for AI globally.

Ilana Golbin

Director, Responsible AI Leader, PwC

PricewaterhouseCoopers offices are shown, Thursday, May 3, 2018 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark ... [+] Lennihan)

Golbin believes in an approach to AI of your use of AI living up to your companys core values. Building trust from all stakeholders and the public requires an organization to use all data and tech responsibility. By staying true to your values not only in sales and customer service, but in all use of technology guarantees ethical use of AI.

Myrna Macgregor

Lead, Responsible AI/Machine Learning, Acting Head of ML Strategy, BBC

BBC Television Centre

Myrna is focused on developing the right tools and resources to incorporate the BBC's values and mission into the technology that it builds. A massive media company like the BBC that is respected worldwide committing the ethical use of AI sets a standard in their industry that puts all their peers on notice.

Marisa Tricarico

Accenture North America Practice Lead for Responsible AI

The Accenture logo is displayed at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on February 26, ... [+] 2019. - Phone makers will focus on foldable screens and the introduction of blazing fast 5G wireless networks at the world's biggest mobile fair as they try to reverse a decline in sales of smartphones. (Photo by Pau Barrena / AFP) (Photo credit should read PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images)

When working with their clients Accenture under Tricaricos guidance focuses on on guiding (their) clients to more safely scale their use of AI, and build a culture of confidence within their organizations. Not all companies have an established north star of AI use. Companies and partners like Accenture are vital to these companies and their proper and ethical use of the technology.

Beena Ammanath

Executive Director Global AI Institute and AI/Tech Ethics Lead at Deloitte

LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES - 2020/02/01: A view of a Deloitte logo. (Photo by Alex Tai/SOPA ... [+] Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Deloitte is focused on achieving maximum human and machine collaboration. To do this they work to communicate their values on use of AI to every single member of their organization, no matter their level. This gets all of their people on one page which then translates when any of them communicate with external stakeholders.

Knowing that my peers in the AI space listed above are working towards a brighter and more ethical future brings me hope and pride. By following their examples and modeling our practices after theirs we can all create a future where the power of AI is leveraged for all that is good, driving society and humanity to approach our full potential.

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15 AI Ethics Leaders Showing The World The Way Of The Future - Forbes