More than ever, we need ethical AI in 2024

As I wrote last year, there will be around 40 national elections in 2024. The ones that catch the eye are US, UK, Germany, Poland, India and Taiwan. Each one will be a stress test of how well democracies around the world deal with bad actors sowing disinformation. It’s probably too late to make systemic changes to inoculate us against such actors and acts, but it’s not too late to insist on ethical AI for the future.

It’s also simply good business. As the healthcare industry knows, sound ethics enable risks to be taken safely. Using someone’s medical data is only possible if the person gives permission, so is predicated by trust. Ethics enables trust. Trust becomes a competitive advantage.

In the same way that consumer expect privacy by design, in 2024 they will expect AI to be ethical by design. In the same way that they do not expect to check each product that they buy conforms to electrical safety, they will be expecting companies to prove AI safety before releasing into the market. And the regulatory conversation will move from safety to justice, just as GDPR did for data privacy.

All of this will increase trust, increase acceptance so increase opportunities in the market. With AI everywhere, touching everything, to make everything better and cheaper, this is where we consumers need companies to be ethical at their core.

We need our elections to be free and fair and untampered. We need decisions made about us to really understand us. We need to eliminate bias against any group in society to eliminate systematic injustice. This is all within our reach thanks to the transformative power of AI. Let’s make 2024 the year where all this starts to happen.

Happy New Year!