No code, lots of rules: Why 'citizen data scientists' need guardrails

When software providers talk about the technologies they say "democratize" AI, they also talk a lot about "guardrails." That's because the rapidly evolving world of AI tools is still more like a republic governed by the machine-learning elite. Although no-code and low-code AI tools promise to give everyone a chance to build business analytics models or simple applications that use AI to complete tedious tasks, the amateurs whom no-code AI companies refer to as "citizen data scientists" are often required to play with the bumper rails up. That's because toolmakers and management are worried about the risks inherent in allowing just anyone to create sophisticated AI systems. "As you go into low-code and actually more the no-code environment, then there are guardrails as to what you can and can't do," said Ed Abbo, president and chief technology officer at C3 AI, which provides software designed to help people with zero coding experience build machine learning models.