How boards can chart an ethical course for AI

Like technology innovations before it, AI is transforming our business and personal lives in many ways. But what makes AI somewhat different is the staggering speed at which it is being adopted, which presents a unique challenge for boards to balance the risks, opportunities and ethical concerns that arise alongside an emerging technology that historically has had loose governance.  

In a recent roundtable moderated by Grant Thornton National Managing Partner for Geography Nichole Jordan, a panel of senior executives and board members had a practical discussion on how boards can promote ethical use of AI throughout the organizations they serve.

How can the board maintain its “noses in, fingers out” role while encouraging responsible corporate and board use of AI?

“First, create the space in every management conversation to ask how AI is connected to decision-making,” said Grant Thornton Chief Strategy Office Chris Smith. “Second, introduce a systematic approach and structure on the board so these conversations become a discipline. And third (but not least), implement secure AI technologies for board-level performance improvement in order to model the behaviors you’d like management to adopt. 

“Because AI is a significant disruption, it is appropriate for boards to go a little deeper than usual. When there’s a massive disruption that can have such a major impact, it’s still ‘trust but verify,’ but verify a little deeper.” 

The landscape is littered with examples of negative brand impact related to AI, highlighting the importance of achieving alignment on AI ethics with management. Problems can arise when an AI project is evaluated against a single priority and ends up causing unseen risks to others.

“If a company plans to implement AI to improve customer service, but has also made a public commitment to reduce energy consumption, it’s important to address these potentially conflicting ethical priorities,” Smith said. “The energy required to power AI could create tension points for certain companies based on the brand philosophy or the ‘E’ in their ESG mission.” 

Using a well-constructed governance framework to guide oversight of AI can help boards take a thorough approach, consider all the relevant aspects of the technology, and prevent potentially harmful gaps in governance.

“Intuitively, we think that we launch a new system, and we will be more efficient and more effective, but we need to evaluate what is really happening,” Dunie said. “It’s really important to use a good framework…. It shows you are looking at gating factors that are meaningful, and tracking results like increased performance or reputation.”