EU AI Policy Groups Note IEEE’s Work on Ethical Design of Autonomous Systems

Dr Clara Neppel, senior director for IEEE’s European Business Operations, reports that EU entities charged with developing European policy on AI are taking positive note of IEEE’s work in addressing ethical design of AI and autonomous systems.  The European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE), which is an independent advisory body of the President of the European Commission, which has been charged with AI ethics guidelines for the Commission by year end, has cited IEEE’s work in its Statement on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and ‘Autonomous’ Systems.  On page 13, it is mentioned that “Some of the most prominent initiatives towards the formulation of ethical principles regarding AI and ‘autonomous’ systems have stemmed from industry, practitioners and professional associations, such as the IEEE’s (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) policy paper on ‘Ethically Aligned Design’.”

Similarly, the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), which is the European Commission’s think tank, positively mentioned IEEE in its note “The Age of Artificial Intelligence.” On page 12, the EPSC notes IEEE’s work on ethical standards for AI, recognizing its “initiative to recommend policy guidelines to foster an ethically aligned design of Artificial Intelligence”, and more specifically “to have an inclusive approach to cultures, for example drawing insights from Buddhism or Confucianism to address the risk of designing an ethical code resting only on Western values and principles.”

For more information on IEEE’s Global Initiative on Ethically-Aligned Design, see:  https://ethicsinaction.ieee.org/

For more on IEEE’s European public policy activities, see:  https://www.ieee.org/about/ieee-europe/index.html