Managed the right way, the opportunities for application of artificial intelligence (AI) are endless--but managed the wrong way, so are the legal, regulatory, reputational, and financial risks. "A myriad of opportunities to leverage AI highlight why an ethical mindset is critical to protect an organization from unintended, unethical consequences," Maureen Mohlenkamp, a principal in Deloitte's risk and financial advisory practice, said during a recent Deloitte Webcast on AI ethics. In broad terms, artificial intelligence encompasses technologies that are designed to mimic human intelligence. Because AI's application is still in its early stages, companies across all industries have only just begun to scratch the surface of its full potential in the business world. "A myriad of opportunities to leverage AI highlight why an ethical mindset is critical to protect an organization from unintended, unethical consequences."

Inc to highly-complex products from IBM, artificial intelligence (AI) has become central to corporate strategy. While the use of AI is mixed across organizations and industries, early adopters are quickly realizing that building trustworthy AI programs – using related data and technologies ethically – can have both short- and long-term benefits when properly supported by leadership. Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory's Maureen Mohlenkamp, who specializes in ethics and compliance, and Deloitte AI Leader Irfan Saif discussed with CorpGov. CorpGov: How do leaders at AI-using organizations manage ethics? Mr. Saif: We polled over 550 C-suite and other executives working at organizations using AI, and found that nearly half expect to increase AI use for risk management and compliance efforts in the coming 12 months.