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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Understanding the US 'AI Bill of Rights' -

and how it can help keep AI Accountable
Oct 14, 2022
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 A new Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, released in the US last week, outlines five key protections to protect US
citizens against AI harms. Image: Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

Kay Firth-Butterfield
Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; Member of the Executive
Committee, World Economic Forum

Karen Silverman
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The Cantellus Group

Benjamin Larsen
Project Lead, World Economic Forum

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While technology brings many benefits, without governance it can bring

significant harm.

A new AI Bill of Rights, released in the US last week outlines five key protections.

Many feel the document is a critical starting point but wish more checks and
balances existed to keep AI accountable.

Last week, the US White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
(OSTP) released a “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” along with several
related agency actions. The document provides an important framework
for how government, technology companies, and citizens can work
together to ensure more accountable AI.

Here's what's key to understand about the new guidelines - both what they
:
 Here's what's key to understand about the new guidelines - both what they
cover, what they don't and what other work is being done in for AI
accountability.

Why is an AI Bill of Rights needed?

The need to resolve issues around the Responsible Use of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) has become increasingly important for countries, citizens,
and businesses over the last eight years. Approximately 60 countries now
have National AI Strategies and many have, or are creating, policies which
allow for responsible use of a technology which can bring huge benefits
but, without adequate governance, can do significant harm to individuals
and our society.

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Since 2018 the European Union has been leading steps to advance the
design, development and deployment of AI in its region whilst seeking to
protect its citizens from misuse. The EU AI Act, due in 2024, will be the
culmination of that work. There has been much discussion about how the
USA would respond to this new legislative framework. Likewise, China has
been developing its own regulatory regime for the use of AI. Whilst much
has been written about the AI Arms Race and technological decoupling
between the US and China, the underlying question is whether this is the
beginning of path-departing technological regimes and governance
mechanisms internationally. The EU-US Trade and Technology Council
points to new efforts aimed at ensuring greater alignment across the
:
 points to new efforts aimed at ensuring greater alignment across the
Atlantic, while the focus of the EU and China on greater regulation of
algorithms, suggests that the US is lagging behind in terms of rule-setting
for the digital economy. There are also a number of international efforts to
set out best practices in the use of AI. For example the Global Partnership
on AI was formed in 2020 and includes both the EU and the USA. UNESCO
and the OECD have also set principles for proper use of AI and at the World
Economic Forum we have been creating scaleable and accessible
frameworks for good governance of AI by governments and business since
2017.

What's in the 'Blueprint for an AI Bill of

Rights'?

The Blueprint contains five principles, each of which includes a technical

companion that provides guidance for responsible implementation of the

principles, which as released are as follows:

:
 principles, which as released are as follows:

Safe and Effective Systems: You should be protected from unsafe or ineffective
systems.
Algorithmic Discrimination Protections: You should not face discrimination by
algorithms and systems should be used and designed in an equitable way.
Data Privacy: You should be protected from abusive data practices via built-in
protections and you should have agency over how data about you is used.
Notice and Explanation: You should know that an automated system is being
used and understand how and why it contributes to outcomes that impact you.
Alternative Options: You should be able to opt out, where appropriate, and have
access to a person who can quickly consider and remedy problems you
encounter.

The intent of the blueprint is to “help guide the design, use, and
deployment of automated systems to protect the American Public.” The
principles are non-regulatory and non-binding: a "Blueprint," as advertised,
and not yet an enforceable “Bill of Rights” with the legislative protections.

The Blueprint is 76 pages and includes many examples of AI use cases that
the White House OSTP considers problematic. Importantly, the document
clarifies that the Blueprint should only apply to automated systems that
have the potential to meaningfully impact the American public’s rights,
opportunities, or access to critical resources or services, generally
excluding many industrial and/or operational applications of AI. The
Blueprint expands on examples for use of AI in Lending, Human Resources,
surveillance and other areas (which would also find a counterpart in the
‘high-risk’ use case framework of the forthcoming EU AI Act).

How have experts reacted to the

'Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights'?
The release of the Blueprint was met with mixed reception from the press,
industry, and academia. Some advocates for government controls believe
:
 industry, and academia. Some advocates for government controls believe
it does not go far enough and will be largely ineffectual. These individuals
wish the document had more of the checks and balances available in the
EU AI Act. In addition to concerns from advocates, The Wall Street Journal,
for instance, noted fears from some tech execs that regulation could stifle
AI innovation.

On the other hand, there is a great amount of support for not moving to
regulation in order to allow beneficial innovation and competition in the
many uses of AI, to flourish. Policy experts have also highlighted the
important protections this document could have for a range of groups
including Black and Latino Americans. As the head of the nonprofit Center
for AI and Digital Policy noted in MIT Technology Review, the Bill of Rights
is key starting point, and an "impressive" one at that.

Have you read?

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'responsible AI'

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intelligence?

Where can I read Forum work on AI

accountability?
The World Economic Forum has already published work to assist business,
governments and citizens understand how to responsibly use AI in Human

Resources and by Law Enforcement. Last year, the Forum released this
:
 Resources and by Law Enforcement. Last year, the Forum released this
practical toolkit to promote the responsible use of artificial intelligence-
based tools in human resources. In addition, a framework developed last
fall provides critical guidance for facial recognition use in law
enforcement.

What other work is being done for AI

accountability?
Though the Blueprint is non-binding, the White House also announced that
a number of federal agencies will be rolling out related actions and
guidance regarding their use of AI systems, including new policies
regarding procurement. Agency activity on the Blueprint varies widely in
terms of level of maturity, and it is unclear how new guidance will relate or
complement existing directives on AI (i.e. Executive Order 13960 on
Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal
Government, or the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST’s) AI Risk Management Framework) and statements by the Federal
Trade Commission, EEOC, CFPB and HHS.

Nonetheless, the “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” can be seen as

enhancing prior statements that existing standards and laws apply to add
to the normative enforcement of aspects of other proposed legal
mechanisms such as the Algorithmic Accountability Act, which was
reintroduced in the Senate in an amended form earlier in 2022. These legal
mechanisms would not only give the AI Bill of Rights more teeth but would
also, tentatively, create a greater alignment of regulatory best practices
between the US, and the EU’s incoming AI Act.

When assessing the bigger picture of international mechanisms and forms

of best practice in the governance of AI, the AI Bill of Rights is a welcome

initiative that must be rightly situated in the context of other forthcoming

:
 initiative that must be rightly situated in the context of other forthcoming
initiatives, both within the US and elsewhere. As mentioned, the EU and
China are already steaming ahead with devising and implementing actual
regulatory regimes, which will affect global best practices. In order to
ensure that the US does not lose its ability to affect international de jure
standards in the area of AI, it is important that policymakers strive to do
more to implement new policies and practices that will safeguard the
interests of US citizens as well as beneficial innovation going forward.
Undoubtedly, these developments will have ripple effects on fragile yet
emergent international best practices in AI governance.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic
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