What Is AI Governance?

When you think of ‘AI governance,’ you may picture a group of government officials creating a list of rules and regulations surrounding AI use. If so, you’re not far off. However, there’s a little more to it than that. So, what is AI governance, really?

Read on to discover what AI governance is, why it matters, and some of its key principles to ensure responsible AI use.

Key Takeaways (TL;DR)

• AI governance is all about establishing rules and frameworks to ensure the safe and ethical use of AI technology.
• Respecting ethical and societal norms, ensuring data transparency and privacy, and managing risk are just a few of the reasons why AI governance is important.
• Key principles of AI governance include accountability and responsibility, transparency and explainability, regulatory compliance, ethical standards, and safety and security.
• Although the US government is working on it, it may still be a while before we have an effective AI government framework in place.

What Does AI Governance Mean?

AI governance refers to principles and frameworks that help ensure responsible development and use of AI technology. Basically, the goal of AI governance is to establish guardrails that promote the ethical and legal use of AI systems and prevent problems.

Take generative AI, for example. With its ability to create entire articles and images in seconds, generative AI tools like ChatGPT can save content marketers and writers significant time and money. However, there is concern over the ethics of AI-generated content, especially regarding privacy, bias, and misinformation.

AI hallucinations, or factual errors, have already caused serious problems, so it's no wonder why AI governance has become a hot topic. Even the United Nations (UN) is receiving pressure to start laying a framework for global AI governance.

Why Does AI Governance Matter?

Avoiding the potential issues with AI writing is just the tip of the iceberg. There are several reasons why AI governance is a priority.

Respecting ethical considerations and societal norms

It’s not just the ethics of AI-generated content that’s up for debate. AI systems can have other societal consequences, especially when making important decisions.

For example, some colleges are looking into how AI can be incorporated into the admissions process, whether to recruit students or to help sort through mountains of applications. If bias is present in the AI system making decisions about who gets in and who doesn’t, it may unfairly disadvantage certain individuals or groups. 

By introducing standards that ensure fair and transparent use, AI governance would keep organizations in education and beyond accountable for their AI-related decisions.

Ensuring data transparency and privacy

AI requires a lot of data to do its job properly. However, about 80% of people are concerned that companies using AI to gather and analyze their data will use it in ways that make them uncomfortable or weren’t originally intended.

An effective AI governance framework would address these concerns by establishing clear guidelines for data collection, analysis, and use by companies. If there are transparent standards in place that prevent misuse of their data, the public may place more trust in AI technology.

Mitigating risk

Overall, one of the most important things that AI governance does is help mitigate the many risks associated with the technology. Some of these risks include:

• Bias and discrimination.
• Loss of trust.
• Loss of jobs and skills due to an overreliance on AI.

Only about 50% of people think AI’s benefits outweigh its challenges. By establishing a framework for addressing these risks, AI governance would help organizations and individuals navigate them successfully.

Key Principles of AI Governance

An effective AI governance framework should ensure the ethical development and use of AI technology. Here are some key principles that can help safeguard both individuals and organizations:

• Accountability and responsibility. If something goes wrong with an AI system, it’s important to be able to trace the issue back to its source. This allows the person or company responsible to address any consequences and take steps to mitigate them.
• Transparency and explainability. To help encourage trust in AI systems, there needs to be clarity and openness about their development and use. AI detectors could play a key role here, as they can help identify AI-generated content.
• Regulatory compliance. Organizations must comply with related laws and regulations to protect user data and promote responsible AI use. For example, a publication released by the European Parliament highlights that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has personal data protection and privacy components relevant to AI systems.
• Ethical standards. Effective AI systems must align with ethical standards such as fairness, justice, and privacy. For example, AI governance can help address concerns over bias and related issues.
• Safety and security. Since it's so quick and easy to use, many don’t consider just what and how much information we share with AI. AI governance helps establish data protection and security standards to prepare for the possibility of and prevent data breaches.

When you address these key components in an AI governance framework, it helps to ensure that AI systems are created and applied ethically and responsibly.

The Future of AI Governance

Individuals and organizations are rapidly working AI technology into their personal and professional lives, and establishing an effective AI governance framework is in progress.

According to the U.S. Department of State’s website: 

“The United States is working to ensure AI technologies are developed responsibly and used as a force for good, helping to make Americans and people around the world safer, more secure, and more prosperous.”

This is excellent news, but it’s hard to say how long it will take to develop comprehensive policies and procedures. Governments and other stakeholders need to strike a balance between public trust, safety, and innovation when it comes to AI, and this is much easier said than done.

Interested in learning more about the rise of AI technology?

• The Future of AI-Generated Content: Opportunities and Challenges
• Who Owns AI-Generated Content
• What Is Fair Use? — The Impact of AI on Fair Use