AI Governance: Duty of Care and Good Faith

In the present day technology landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as a transformative force with immense potential. Board members face a critical challenge: providing effective governance for a technology whose risks and implications are not fully understood.

As Directors, our Duty of Care & Good Faith extends beyond merely acknowledging AI's existence. We must truly comprehend its implications and risks, many of which remain uncertain or unknown.

The AI Landscape: More Than Meets the Eye

AI is not just another item on our agenda. While the hype wave is colossal, as the market has shown, AI is reshaping industries with the potential to impact the very fabric of our society.

Beyond Superficial Understanding

As board members, we cannot afford to treat AI as just another buzzword. Our duties stipulate a deeper level of engagement:

1. Education: Simply understanding through reputable sources, workshops, and expert consultations.

2. Diverse perspectives: Engage with AI ethicists, technologists, lawyers and others to gain a multifaceted view of this bleeding edge technology that few have any understanding.

3. Scenario planning: Work with management to develop robust, flexible strategies that account for various outcomes, including ROIC failure (loss), various levels of risk, and other AI-driven futures.

5. Regular reviews: Regularly review and update measurements on your strategies to account for emerging AI-related opportunities or threats.

The Known Unknowns

While we can point to obvious concerns like data privacy and algorithmic bias, another critical challenge lies in the "unknown unknowns"—risks we haven't yet identified or fully understood, due to simply not understanding the current AI’s.

These could include:

1. Emergent behaviors: As AI systems become more complex, they may develop unforeseen behaviors or make decisions in ways we didn't anticipate.

2. Economic disruption: AI could reshape entire industries faster than we can adapt, leading to ill prepared economic challenges.

3. Ethical dilemmas: As AI takes on more decision-making roles, we may face moral quandaries, some of which we may not want to acknowledge.

4. Geopolitical implications: AI could shift the balance of power between nations in ways we can't yet predict. Labor and workforce, military strength, and more all driving up GDP.

Conclusion

As stewards of our organizations, we must go beyond surface-level understanding and blindly trust what big firms publish. The risks—both known and unknown—demand our full attention and a commitment to continuous learning, e.g. understanding. By embracing this challenge, we not only fulfill our duty of care, we become an important asset.