This post features two peer-reviewed articles about defining organizational AI governance and exploring the role of responsible AI in ESG investing. The recently published articles are authored by the AIGA research team from the University of Turku.
Defining organizational AI governance
The first article aims to provide a clear, conceptual definition of AI governance for organizations. We believe such definition is needed to position AI governance in the organization’s overall governance structure, among corporate governance, IT governance and data governance. This positioning will help organizations adopt tools such as AI governance frameworks.
We propose the following definition for organizational AI governance:
AI governance is a system of rules, practices, processes, and technological tools that are employed to ensure an organization’s use of AI technologies aligns with the organization’s strategies, objectives, and values; fulfills legal requirements; and meets principles of ethical AI followed by the organization.
Mäntymäki et al. 2022
Click here to read the full paper.
What about investors? ESG analyses as tools for ethics-based AI auditing
The second article explores how investors could consider responsible AI when evaluating the shares on the stock market. The use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in investing has increased rapidly, as investors wish to mitigate risks and societal or environmental harm.
When not used responsibly, AI systems could cause widespread damage to people, property or reputation. To avoid the potential harmful impacts, an investor could favor companies whose business strategy involves responsible AI. However, considering factors related to AI is not yet an established practice among investors. This is partly due to investors’ limited knowledge on the subject and lack of evaluation metrics for responsible AI,
One crucial question for future research and practice is how AI governance can be structurally integrated into sets of ESG criteria. At least three possible options exist. First, AI governance can be integrated into the social and/or governance pillars of ESG criteria. Second, AI governance aspects can form an independent pillar that is used when evaluating organizations that develop or use AI systems. Third, AI governance can be incorporated into a pillar that deals with technology governance more generally. These three options may coexist in different variations, particularly in the near future when AI governance aspects are still finding their place in ESG evaluations
Minkkinen et al. 2022
Click here to read the full paper.
References:
Mäntymäki M., Minkkinen M., Birkstedt T.and VIljanen M. 2022. Defining organizational AI governance. AI Ethics.
Minkkinen M., Niukkanen A. and Mäntymäki, M. 2022. What about investors? ESG analyses as tools for ethics-based AI auditing. AI & Society.
Click here to view the full list of publications from the AIGA project.