Kay talks to us about why AI Ethics matter during her presentation at the RE•WORK Applied AI Virtual Summit. But the second piece is really, well, if you are not creating trusted AI, then you're going to have a loss of brand value if something goes wrong, so the risks have to really be weighed with the benefits of AI. I also I don't think that you could ignore trusted AI or AI ethics anymore because we've got over 160 different sets of ethical principles out there, from Beijing to Montreal to everywhere in the world. We also worked with the Singaporean Government on how companies could ethically use AI. A few other places where we have high-risk case uses of AI and lots of ethical issues involved is obviously facial recognition technology, we're working on a project with France around that.

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. The current conversation around AI, ethics and the benefits for our global community is a heated one. The combination of high stakes and a complex, rapidly-adopted technology has created a very real state of urgency and intensity around this discussion. Promoters of the technology love to position AI as a welcome disruptor that could bring about a global revolution. It's all too easy to get caught up in the hype and create a situation whereby the world does not fully benefit from the development of AI technology.

Kay Firth-Butterfield was teaching AI, ethics, law, and international relations when a chance meeting on an airplane landed her a job as chief AI ethics officer. In 2017, Kay became head of AI and machine learning at the World Economic Forum, where her team develops tools and on-the-ground programs to improve AI understanding and governance across the globe. Your reviews are essential to the success of Me, Myself, and AI. For a limited time, we're offering a free download of MIT SMR's best articles on artificial intelligence to listeners who review the show. Send a screenshot of your review to smrfeedback@mit.edu to receive the download. Kay Firth-Butterfield is head of AI and machine learning and a member of the executive committee of the World Economic Forum. In the United Kingdom, she is a barrister with Doughty Street Chambers and has worked as a mediator, arbitrator, part-time judge, business owner, and professor. She is vice chair of the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems and serves on the Polaris Council of the U.S. Government Accountability Office advising on AI. In the final episode of the first season of the Me, Myself, and AI podcast, Kay joins cohosts Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh to discuss the democratization of AI, the values of good governance and ethics in technology, and the importance of having people understand the technology across their organizations -- and society.

Kay Firth-Butterfield is Head of AI & ML at World Economic Forum, and a humanitarian with a strong sense of social justice. Kay talks to us about why AI Ethics matter during her presentation at the RE•WORK Applied AI Virtual Summit. Read the full transcript below and watch the video here. It's really great to be with you, and thanks to RE.WORK for making it happen. My title is, Does AI Ethics Matter?

"With AI," Cisco's Joseph Bradley said, "we're at a crossroads for a new kind of moral compass of human equality, at a level literally of the civil rights movement. Because when you think of the number of people that AI can impact and the speed at which it drives decisions, you understand how important it is for us to get it right." That importance will only grow, as artificial intelligence and machine learning take over key decisions in everything from enterprises and public safety to battlefields and operating rooms. Depending on how it's developed and deployed, AI can support a future that's inclusive, sustainable, and rife with opportunity for even for the most disadvantaged in society. Or it can widen the divide, eliminating jobs and basing key decisions on biased programming.

Fifteen global companies have taken up Singapore's AI Model Governance Framework; Practical examples for organisations to follow suit. Singapore sees Artificial Intelligence ("AI") as an important and fundamental technology for the Digital Economy, with AI-powered products offering a level of personalised service at scale that was previously unimaginable. In the global discourse on AI ethics and governance issue, Singapore believes that its balanced approach can facilitate innovation, safeguard consumer interests, and serve as a common global reference point. These initiatives follow Singapore's launch of the Model AI Governance Framework in Davos in 2019, as well as the announcement of Singapore's National AI Strategy in November 2019, and demonstrate the progress made in supporting organisations in deploying responsible AI. The new initiatives were announced by Mr S Iswaran, Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information, and Ms Kay Firth-Butterfield, AI Portfolio Lead at the World Economic Forum, at a joint press conference with the WEF's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution ("WEF C4IR") at WEF's Annual Meeting in Davos.

The possibility of creating sentient machines that can think and act like humans raises many ethical issues. We're already encountering reinforced human bias in AI algorithms and with autonomous "killer" robots looming on the horizon, an open discussion on the perils of unchecked AI is even more imperative. In celebration of Women's History Month, we've highlighted 12 brilliant women leading this much-needed discussion on AI & ethics and development of responsible AI solutions that will benefit everyone. Let me know of any others we should highlight in the comments below or tweet @MiaD #TiEInflect. First person on our list is Joy Buolamwini, founder of Algorithmic Justice League to fight bias in Machine Learning.

Kay Firth-Butterfield: One of the things that stick out in my mind is some research that McKinsey did recently, where they describe AI as a contributing factor to the transformation of society. And I just want to quote what they're saying about the transformation of our society: that it's happening ten times faster, and at three hundred times the scale, or roughly three thousand times faster than the impact of the industrial revolution. And you know, a lot of people compare this revolution to the industrial revolution. But, I think it's the speed and the real, core underpinning that AI is contributing to that transformation of our society that makes these discussions so important. David Bray: It's not just about handing over judgment and decisions to a machine that a human would do otherwise.

Kay Firth-Butterfield: One of the things that stick out in my mind is some research that McKinsey did recently, where they describe AI as a contributing factor to the transformation of society. And I just want to quote what they're saying about the transformation of our society: that it's happening ten times faster, and at three hundred times the scale, or roughly three thousand times faster than the impact of the industrial revolution. And you know, a lot of people compare this revolution to the industrial revolution. But, I think it's the speed and the real, core underpinning that AI is contributing to that transformation of our society that makes these discussions so important. David Bray: It's not just about handing over judgment and decisions to a machine that a human would do otherwise.