The AI industry must make sure that important communities aren’t left behind | Opinion
The age of AI has begun. But as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to scale across industries and functions, it is imperative that marginalized and underrepresented communities are afforded the opportunity to thrive in the age of AI, and not get left behind.
Successful execution will require two essential mechanisms: the inclusive development and use of AI models society can trust and opportunity for all without barriers.
An open and inclusive AI ecosystem is good for innovation, acquiring skills, healthy competition and growing diverse talent pools. As custodians of the public good, organizations that are building and deploying generative AI tools have the collective responsibility to promote responsible development and use of AI. It cannot be an afterthought.
Maximizing the value in responsible AI applications requires user trust in its function, ethical standards and governance. These should be nonnegotiable elements of AI, but need to be understood before they can become fully accepted and implemented.
▪ AI ethics is a multidisciplinary field that investigates how to optimize AI’s beneficial impact while reducing risks and adverse outcomes. It explores issues like data responsibility and privacy, inclusion, moral agency, value alignment, accountability and technology misuse to understand how to build and use AI that is human-centric.
▪ AI governance is the ability to direct, manage and monitor the AI activities of an organization to determine whether the AI is compliant and trustworthy while addressing ethical concerns and regulatory controls.
Managing both can help us foster the inclusive development and use of AI society can trust.
There is so much good AI can help us accomplish: From increasing employee productivity by automating repetitive tasks to freeing them up to do higher value work.
Applying proper ethical standards and governance to AI can help mitigate the risk that its use could lead to people in vulnerable communities getting shut out of jobs they’re qualified for, being denied mortgages, or having health insurance claims denied.
AI’s positive impact could be felt far and wide if we are proactive about being inclusive now and industry adopts the responsible AI principles laid out above.
The second critical part of helping underrepresented communities is AI skills development. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan once said, “knowledge is power. Information is liberating and education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.’”
All companies should focus on AI skill building to help people take advantage of career opportunities. IBM is committed to train 2 million people in AI by the end of 2026, with a focus on underrepresented communities. Free coursework includes prompt-writing, getting started with machine learning, improving customer service with AI, and generative AI in action.
There’s opportunity for all. According to the University of San Diego, those looking for careers in AI will find them in many different industries, from cybersecurity to healthcare, agriculture, gaming, marketing, the military and beyond.
I’m a proud N.C. State alum, and I implore N.C. businesses to find a trusted partner to help them build trustworthy AI solutions and expand AI education collaborations with universities and community colleges.
Knowledge is power. Now is the time for underrepresented communities to help shape the age of AI. With the help of businesses in North Carolina and abroad, the positive benefits of AI should touch the many, not just the elite few.
Tim Humphrey is IBM Chief Analytics Officer and N.C. Senior State Executive.
