The algorithms are watching us, but who is watching the algorithms?

Empowering algorithms to make potentially life-changing decisions about citizens still comes with significant risk of unfair discrimination, according to a new report published by the UK's Center for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI). In some sectors, the need to provide adequate resources to make sure that AI systems are unbiased is becoming particularly pressing – namely, the public sector, and specifically, policing. The CDEI spent two years investigating the use of algorithms in both the private and the public sector, and was faced with many different levels of maturity in dealing with the risks posed by algorithms. In the financial sector, for example, there seems to be much closer regulation of the use of data for decision-making, while local government is still in the early days of managing the issue. What is AI? Everything you need to know about Artificial Intelligence Although awareness of the threats that AI might pose is growing across all industries, the report found that there is no particular example of good practice when it comes to building responsible algorithms.