CEOs play a pivotal role in an effective responsible AI strategy: Report

The CEO plays a pivotal role in how organisations implement an effective responsible AI strategy, however only a third of Australian businesses have a CEO personally invested in an organisation's AI strategy.

The 2022 Responsible AI Index explained that having a CEO driving the organisation's AI strategy ensures accountability and a more strategic AI orientation across the business.

The Responsible AI Index 2022 measures and tracks how well organisations are designing and implementing Responsible AI systems.

Responsible AI systems are designed with careful consideration of their fairness, accountability, transparency, and impact on people and society.

Steve Nuttall, director at research firm Fifth Quadrant told Digital Nation it is important for CEOs to be committed to having an AI strategy.

He said, “Leaders should be concerned with setting strategic goals and coordinating individuals within the organisation to develop AI responsibly. I see it as the CEO’s role to invest in developing the culture and governance processes to make responsible AI practices routine in the organisation.

“The CEO should also be held accountable for the outcomes of the AI that the board has supported and invested in.”

Organisations, where the CEO is responsible for driving the AI strategy, have a higher RAI Index score of 66 compared with a score of 61 for those where the CEO is not taking the lead, the report noted.

Those organisations with the CEO leading the AI strategy are more likely to invest in developing their culture and governance processes to elevate RAI practices to a standard routine.

The Responsible AI Index rates a business’ AI maturity score out of 100. In 2021 and 2022, the majority of businesses were scored between 50-64 in the ‘initiating’ phase.

Nuttall said this is neither a good or bad thing, rather an accurate reflection of the level of maturity of Australian businesses developing AI systems.

“Moving forward we want to see a significant shift from Initiating to Maturing over the next one to two years. If that does not materialise, then I would see that as bad,” he said.

Sixty percent of organisations have an enterprise-wide AI strategy that is tied to their wider business strategy, compared with 51 percent in 2021. Around three-quarters of the more mature segments have an enterprise-wide AI strategy.

Nuttall said there is a need for more incentives and guardrails with consequences when they’re breached to encourage the development of responsible AI.

He said, “Microsoft tested a new product (ChatGPT) on a hundred million people without a clear understanding of the consequences. Microsoft would likely have taken a different approach to ChatGPT if we had real regulation in place about how to test AI systems.”

The biggest hurdle for organisations to have a responsible AI strategy is the AI arms race and the fear that investing in responsible will slow down innovation, Nuttall explained.

“The report shows this fear in unfounded as more mature organisations believe that the benefits of investing in developing responsible AI systems outweigh the costs and that this gives them a competitive advantage.”