INTHEBLACK February 2022 - Magazine - Page 35
“YOU HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT
THE USE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES
OPENS UP A DIFFERENT RISK
PROFILE, AND YOU ARE
ACCOUNTABLE AT THE BOARD
LEVEL FOR MITIGATING THESE
RISKS SUFFICIENTLY.”
PROFESSOR MATT KUPERHOLZ, PWC
“We’re going to see a lot more structure within
organisations to ensure a cross-pollination of
ideas to address ethical risk, and some of the most
sophisticated firms are moving in this direction
before implementing new technologies.”
Paterson stresses that AI ethics policies should
not “be a gloss on top of what the technologies do”.
“Ethical questions are fundamental to how
companies use technology and whether it does for
them what they actually want it to do. Another risk
is error. If you don’t know what it is you are using
and what data your technology is relying on, you
could receive erroneous results.”
A POWER FOR GOOD
Kuperholz says standards of governance and
regulation will eventually catch up to 4IR technologies.
“Remember that around the turn of the 20th
century there was no regulation governing the
publishing of financial statements by listed
companies,” he says. “Society drove the need for
this level of regulation, which is now the backbone
for audit companies.
“We find ourselves in a situation that drags
regulation into being,” adds Kuperholz.
“AI-first companies are not motivated to put the
handbrakes on themselves, but, at some point, it will
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TO LISTEN
to a CPA Australia
podcast on how
technology is
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seem like the Wild West if companies are just
using AI to maximise return to shareholder value,
rather than using it in the best interests of society
as a whole.”
In the meantime, however, organisations must
take responsibility for understanding – and
explaining – their use of 4IR technologies.
“We have taken ourselves to this incredible
precipice of the most exciting technology that’s
ever existed,” says Kuperholz. “In theory, it could
solve problems like cancer, pollution, world hunger.
On the other hand, however, it could lead to a
completely dystopian future that benefits the few
and disadvantages the many.
“With this great power comes great
responsibility, and you can’t get something for
nothing. You have to acknowledge that the use of
these technologies opens up a different risk profile,
and you are accountable at the board level for
mitigating these risks sufficiently.
“The buck has got to stop with you for your use
of AI and advanced technologies,” adds Kuperholz.
“Is it fair? Is it unbiased? Is it appropriately
governed? Companies that put in place and publish
strong, ethical frameworks are building the guide
rails by which they will get more advantage from
this technology, rather than less.”
intheblack.com February 2022 35