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Opinion When it comes to AI we need to proceed with caution and build trust

Data Scientist Dr Oisín Boydell looks at the emerging trends in Artificial Intelligence and how they impact humans and society. 

“MOVE FAST AND break things” was Facebook’s original company motto. It sums up the prevailing attitudes from just a few years ago to the development and advancement of disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

This new frontier attitude facilitated the breakneck speed at which AI has advanced, with global technology giants, innovative start-ups, along with academic research labs all racing to innovate the next big AI breakthrough.

But more recently, we are seeing a shift in this outlook as we consider the implications and effects of this transformational technology from a human and societal perspective.

We have all seen the results of this AI acceleration, not just with the science-fiction-esque examples that attract all the limelight, but also in the behind-the-scenes AI that is having an increasing influence on all our lives.

AI in everyday life

We may also be equally familiar with conversational AI and chatbots where we can no longer be sure if we are communicating with a human or not, or generative AI models that can write novels and poetry or create photo-realistic images of whatever we ask them to, as well as self-driving cars and robot dogs.

But we also live in a world where AI can decide whether or not to give you a bank loan or what insurance premium you’ll be charged, which information to show you (or hide from you) in your news feeds and search results, and how you are diagnosed and treated if you fall ill.

As AI has become more capable, as well as more ubiquitous and influential in our lives, we are all now becoming more aware of its potential negative or harmful effects. Move fast and break things… but do we want to risk breaking down trust, human autonomy, our shared ethics and values and our ability to be able to control what path the evolution of AI will follow?

Human-centric

What is emerging more recently is a human-centred focus on AI that puts human values first and foremost, which we are seeing both through technical developments, as well as from a legal and regulatory perspective.

For example, in recent years there has been much focus on trustworthy AI; AI that is designed so that we can trust in the decisions and outputs it produces, that it protects our privacy, and that it is fair and unbiased.

Explainable AI (XAI) is a field of AI research that explores how humans can interrogate and understand why an AI system made a particular decision. As AI has become more advanced, and subsequently more complex, AI models are often treated as a ‘black box’; we cannot look inside and interpret how and why a particular decision was arrived at. 

If an AI model decides to deny my loan application, I might rightly like to know why, but if that decision was based on many thousands of different factors and a complex decision path that even the developers of the model cannot grasp, how am I supposed to be able to understand and trust that outcome?

Explainable AI focusses on developing approaches and techniques that help enable AI systems to explain their inner workings and decision processes in human understandable ways. While this is welcome, it is worth bearing in mind that XAI will always have its limits as the AI algorithms and data they are built on become more and more complex.

Building trust

Another active area of research and development is Privacy Preserving Machine Learning (PPML) which addresses another important aspect of trust in AI systems. Models are trained on huge datasets and this data can often contain sensitive personal and private information.

In the case of an AI system supporting medical diagnoses, that AI may be trained on medical records containing thousands of examples of patients’ symptoms, treatments, and outcomes so the AI is able to learn patterns in the data to diagnose and recommend the best treatments.

Sounds great, but how do we also trust that these AI systems do not also expose sensitive patient details that may identify individuals? Even if the data is first anonymised, unique combinations of symptoms may still be used to identify people, inadvertently exposed by the AI system. Privacy Preserving Machine Learning looks at techniques and solutions to ensure private data is protected, whilst enabling AI systems to still be accurate and useful.

These types of large datasets also often contain biases and prejudices that can be amplified by the AI trained on them, affecting the fairness of the AI’s decision making. Returning to my declined loan application, how can I, or even the owners of the AI system trust that the decision wasn’t prejudiced due to gender, ethnicity, or other factors that as a society we have agreed are not acceptable, but nevertheless may be present in any large dataset the AI was trained on? Understanding how we can even identify and measure bias in complex AI systems is an open research problem.

Legal footing

So far, we have looked at some technical approaches for building trust in AI, as part of a more human-centred focus on AI. Putting human values first and supporting the responsible use of AI are not merely technical problems awaiting solutions, however. We can also work with regulations and laws to ensure AI is used ethically and fairly.

The EU AI Act is a proposed European law on AI that is the first law on AI by any major regulator, which puts human values and rights front and centre.

The act defines five graduated risk categories for AI, each with its own appropriate rules and restrictions. The highest level, unacceptable risk, prescribes a blanket ban on certain uses and fields of AI such as social scoring, manipulation causing physical or phycological harm, and real-time biometric identification systems.

Will the AI Act hamper innovation and investment in Europe, similar to initial fears when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was introduced, or will it establish a blueprint for trustworthy AI that is followed by other countries? As humans, we are all in this together.

Data scientists, researchers and developers of AI systems share a social responsibility to create AI that leaves the world in a better place. AI education and training has traditionally focussed on the technical and engineering aspects, but now we are seeing ethics and trustworthy AI topics being added to the curriculum. For example, the Human-Centered AI Masters (HCAIM) programme is being taught across Europe to equip practitioners with the awareness, knowledge and skills for this human-centred approach.

For a technology such as AI that has such a profoundly disruptive and society altering potential, instead of “move fast and break things” maybe we should rather “move thoughtfully, and don’t break our trust in a technology that has the potential for so much good”?

Dr Oisín Boydell is Principal Data Scientist at CeADAR, which is Ireland’s national centre for Applied Artificial Intelligence.

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    Mute Gareth Wogan
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    Jan 20th 2020, 8:40 PM

    I’m 35 and have had MS for 15 years. I work full time and am active. Looking at me you’d say I’m grand. It’s a headwrecker of a disease though. Pins and needles, muscle pain, headaches i could go on but i won’t. I urge everybody to try and get top Dublin Castle this Saturday 12-4. The MS society will have a MS cafe there and it’s built in a way that enables people without MS to experience some symptoms i.e the ground is uneven so you’re balance is off, the menu goes blurry and then back to normal to show the vision problems people with MS have. Sometimes i find it all a bit too much, the pain, thinking about the future etc. It’s tough but we all just gotta keep moving. No matter how bad it gets we gotta keep smiling!!

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    Mute Everyone'sgonecrazy
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    Jan 20th 2020, 10:29 PM

    Great piece, well done and thanks for writing it. Keep going strong all you MS warriors, you are amazing xx

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    Mute Serge the llama
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    Jan 20th 2020, 10:00 PM

    MS has to be one of the worse autoimmune conditions out there followed by type 1 diabetes, Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune hepatitis.

    Little support is available for any of those sufferers. Type 1 diabetes is on the long term illness as is MS but if you have another co-morbid condition it’s not covered.

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    Mute Gazza Lazza
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    Jan 20th 2020, 9:25 PM

    To everyone hear who suffers from MS, I am curious to know if you’ve ever thought of using medicinal cannabis as a treatment or for relief. Genuine question.

    I have seen results from numerous studies that have been carried over the past few years, which suggest at a very minimum is helps relieve some of the symptoms related to MS.

    As far as I’m aware, the medicinal marijuana legislation passed in 2014 includes the prescribed use of “Sativex” specifically for those who suffer from MS.

    Has anyone been precribed this?
    Or has anyone applied for this?

    If so I would be really interesed to know, thanks

    Asking for a friend ;)

    https://floridasmedicalmarijuana.com/can-medical-marijuana-help-treat-multiple-sclerosis/

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    Mute Robert Joyce
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    Jan 21st 2020, 5:00 PM

    @Gazza Lazza: I have been using Sativex for over a month now and I have shared my experience on Facebook and Twitter. Look for @a30minutelife on either platform.

    It has helped me with spasticity and pain, and has other welcome benefits. It is not covered on the drug payments scheme or long term illness scheme and costs over €525 per month.

    As a treatment it has few side effects, in my experience, which is limited to over a month. Long term there maybe other effects.

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    Mute Robert Joyce
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    Jan 21st 2020, 5:01 PM

    @Gazza Lazza: I have been using Sativex for over a month now and I have shared my experience on Facebook and Twitter. Look for “a30minutelife” on either platform.

    It has helped me with spasticity and pain, and has other welcome benefits. It is not covered on the drug payments scheme or long term illness scheme and costs over €525 per month.

    As a treatment it has few side effects, in my experience, which is limited to over a month. Long term there maybe other effects.

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    Mute Robert Joyce
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    Jan 21st 2020, 5:01 PM

    @Gazza Lazza: I have been using Sativex for over a month now and I have shared my experience on Facebook and Twitter.

    It has helped me with spasticity and pain, and has other welcome benefits. It is not covered on the drug payments scheme or long term illness scheme and costs over €525 per month.

    As a treatment it has few side effects, in my experience, which is limited to over a month. Long term there maybe other effects.

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    Mute Stephen Bender
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    Jan 21st 2020, 7:02 AM

    Great article.
    Thank you for highlighting these issues.
    I don’t have MS, but have Psoriatic arthritis and come across the same issues. I here it from all chronic illness sectors. When I was talking about it with my GP recently, with regard to holistic approach and case management, he said the GP’s are ideally suited to that role but are stretched to the limits combined with poor communication and coordination amongst the different parts of health and social services!!

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    Mute Angela Godfrey Maher
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    Jan 21st 2020, 12:37 AM

    You poor girl I have Pakinsons diease .Similar to MS the nerve pains are so horrible I also have tired days too .There are several neurology diseases that are unfairly been a good system to treate patients . I have seen it and heard about .Loved ones help as hard as they can and you find out who your friend are . Your article is a good one But hey scientists are trying their best to find a cure for MS and PD xxxxx

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    Mute Dave Stewart
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    Jan 20th 2020, 9:26 PM

    Sam Typical arrogant obnoxious blue shirt comment, do us all a favour and go to another country yourself

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    Mute sam
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    Jan 20th 2020, 8:26 PM

    Just go to a different country to get treatment.

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    Mute Gareth Wogan
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    Jan 20th 2020, 8:45 PM

    @sam: why?? Most drugs for, if not all, are free here.

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    Mute Ashling Visser Bishop
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    Jan 20th 2020, 8:48 PM

    @sam: do you know someone with MS. There is not just one treatment for MS but when another neurological problems comes along. There can be lost of different treatments. For example, every week I could be in UHG for treatment and the same week over to Beaumont Hospital for rehabilitation to learn to walk again. As I couldn’t drive my husband had to take leave from work and then we had 3 small kids at the time. Trying to find someone who has the time to do school runs and collecting and spending time with them until we have returned. But if you can tell me where to go for treatment that would be brilliant.

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    Mute Ashling Visser Bishop
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    Jan 20th 2020, 8:52 PM

    @sam: where do we go. I am in for treatment in 2 hospitals in Galway and 1 in Dublin. If I could get my treatment in place I would gone. But I’m not just talking about getting the medication. There is a huge long list of things that happens to the body of a MS person. So I would be grateful if you could advise on where this place is that you write about. Thank you.

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    Mute Gareth Wogan
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    Jan 20th 2020, 9:07 PM

    @Ashling Visser Bishop: Don’t use up your energy on saps like that Ashling. Stay strong ya warrior!!

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    Mute 2thFairy
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    Jan 20th 2020, 9:16 PM

    @sam: you are a heartless troll.

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    Mute Serge the llama
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    Jan 20th 2020, 10:02 PM

    @sam: lots of countries won’t give you a visa if you have a serious medical condition as you will be a drain on the system.

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    Mute Bluebeard67
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    Jan 21st 2020, 4:36 PM

    @sam: seriously on what

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    Mute Helen Farrell
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    Jan 21st 2020, 5:20 PM

    I was diagnosed with MS in 1998 and I’m still working half-time. It can be gruelling at times, with pain, spasticity, extreme fatigue and that can be even after medicating for those symptoms. That said I am doing well for 22 years with MS. The HSE keeps delisting essential medications from the Long Term Illness Scheme. A recent removal was Vitamin D, something my neurologist prescribed. Don’t get a GP visit card (despite a Govt promise that LTI Scheme recipients would, a few years ago) which would really help financially, as the side effects of my MS disease modifying meds cause a lowered immunity to infection. It’s a constant fight to keep on top of things. Physio – private. Many meds – pay privately. GP – pay privately. All on reduced income, while I wish I could work fulltime..

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    Mute Bluebeard67
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    Jan 21st 2020, 4:33 PM

    I have RRMS diagnosed at 46 am lucky still able to work & am active what most people fail to grasp as regards MS is that no 2 patients are the same which makes the search for a cure all the more difficult. I live in NW & it’s all the more acute in terms of neurological supports as for my first few years we only had 1 neurologist for Sligo Donegal & Leitrim but thankfully he now has two registrar’s but there are numerous neurological auto immune diseases that they treat, mnd Parkinson’s multiple system atrophy plus a host of others I can’t name. This is a great article but as it’s election time I will leave you on this note: at last election when Donegal was changed from 2 X 3 seat constituencies to 1 X 5 seat I emailed ALL candidates & sitting TDs in relation to poor access to neurology services in NW. The response? One reply from the outgoing & RETIRING Dinny McGinley. Ignored by ALL others independents his party colleagues FF SF & Labour. Now what does that say about “cherishing all the children (people) if this nation equally? (Last election was after all in 2016!)

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