A not-for-profit organisation was created out of a partnership that the University of Sydney made with IAG and the CSIRO’s Data61.
According to a recent report, Gradient Institute will promote the creation of ethical artificial intelligence (AI) with both the private and public sectors.
The Institute will be an independent not-for-profit organisation founded to research the ethics of AI and develop ethical AI-based systems that will provide better outcomes for both individuals and society as a whole.
Creating a ‘world where all systems behave ethically’ will be the focus of the Institute.
There are several ways in which this will be done such as through research, through practice, policy advocacy, public awareness and training people in ethical development and us of AI.
Research findings will be used to create open source ethical AI tools that can be adopted and adapted by business and government.
According to the Institute’s CEO, AI learns from data and data reflects the past and at the Institute, the future should be better than the past.
By embedding ethics into AI, ways to avoid the mistakes of the past can be chosen by creating better outcomes through ethically-aware machine learning.
Leaning into the challenges and opportunities of AI requires considered thinking about fairness and equality.
No government or business can do this alone. Work across sectors is needed and needs to be done with urgency. Ethical AI will improve trust in how automated machines make decisions.
Establishing the Gradient Institute as an independent not for profit organisation is critical in bringing its purpose to life. Hopefully, other organisations will join to contribute to this research.
Gradient Institute is an important step, as AI and machine learning will impact society and every sector of Australia’s economy.
It is critical to guarantee that the technologies are developed with ethical considerations in mind especially since AI is becoming more widely adopted.
Australia needs to get this right as a country, to reap the benefits of AI from productivity gains to new-to-the-world value.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University said that there is a need to build an ethical framework for AI that combines deep knowledge of the technological possibilities and limits of artificial intelligence.
Moreover, it must ensure that it is primarily shaped by human needs and interests.
Research intensive universities are well placed to work collaboratively with government, industry and community groups to achieve this approach.
They are able to draw on their deep intellectual resources across the sciences, engineering, humanities and social sciences.
There is a need to collaborate, critique each other and engage the community to tackle what is emerging as one of the great ethical challenges of this time.
