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KEEPING AN EYE ON AI
Researchers at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute work to keep AI unbiased and ‘good’
BY LISA CATTERALL
WHILE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) holds tremendous potential for good, if used improperly, it also holds the potential for harm. The experts at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), one of Canada’s three centres of AI excellence are well aware of the potential AI brings — as well as the risks it presents.
“With great opportunity does come potential concerns and issues, and those areas clearly need to be addressed whenever AI work is undertaken,” says Russ Erickson, vice president of investment and partnerships at Amii.
“But we do believe that we can both take advantage of the opportunities that exist, and mitigate the potential harms.”
As a global leader in machine learning and AI, Amii bridges research and industry, helping businesses to tap into the potential benefits of cutting-edge AI developments.
Some of the greatest benefits AI and machine learning algorithms offer is their ability to parse through large amounts of information in a manner far more efficient than if humans were to do the same work, unaided.
“Anytime you’re trying to solve problems using a large number of parameters of data, AI is going to be able to recognize patterns in that data and figure out more optimal paths forward,” says Erickson.
While data sets are a fundamental part of using AI, they can also present risks in trying to keep AI-driven decision making fair and balanced. Inherent biases in data can lead to flawed decision making, as AI can pick up on racism or sexism.
Researchers at Amii — aware of these vulnerabilities — have been working to ensure that when AI is used, it delivers results that are as neutral and unbiased as possible.
“We need to responsibly develop AI as we work with partners in industry — that’s a key area in the commercialization of our research,” says Erickson.
“Whenever we work with an organization to build algorithms, part of the process is an algorithmic impact
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