AI Ethics Advisory Boards are essential but also require focus and attention, else they can fall ... [ ] apart and be untoward for all concerned. Should a business establish an AI Ethics advisory board? You might be surprised to know that this is not an easy yes-or-no answer. Before I get into the complexities underlying the pros and cons of putting in place an AI Ethics advisory board, let's make sure we are all on the same page as to what an AI Ethics advisory board consists of and why it has risen to headline-level prominence. As everyone knows, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the practical use of AI for business activities have gone through the roof as a must-have for modern-day companies. You would be hard-pressed to argue otherwise. To some degree, the infusion of AI has made products and services better, plus at times led to lower costs associated with providing said products and services. A nifty list of efficiencies and effectiveness boosts can be potentially attributed to the sensible and appropriate application of AI.

A global AI ethics advisory board is aiming to fill the need for guidance for organizations that lack the means or ability to provide ethics oversight of the AI technology they use. The board will be housed at the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University in Boston, an academic organization that creates AI products that use machine learning as an extension of human intelligence. Introduced on July 28, the board consists of 44 experts from multiple disciplines across the AI industry and academia. Board members will meet twice a year to discuss ethical questions surrounding AI. Some of the members will review applications submitted by organizations that want their products reviewed for ethical guidance. The new group is similar to an Institutional Review Board, which is federally mandated in industries such as healthcare, and biomedical research and clinical trials.