Artificial Intelligence and the Law: Considerations
Artificial intelligence and the law is at a critical juncture right now. There are important considerations when evaluating liability for contribution to AI systems. Programmers and anyone involved in constructing an AI platform have to be careful. They need to be cautious about the radius of inputs and the sources of data.
They need to ensure that there’s no bias in place in those systems. This is especially as it relates to judicial decision making by the computer. Here’s an example. There could be liability for a programmer if they construe inputs as biased in any way. There would be a problem if they include categories that are inappropriate. Of if they exclude categories that are inappropriate. So when working on an AI software program or platform, it’s prudent to be cautious and careful. There should also be lots of dry runs. There should be as much input as possible. You should have input from other programmers, developers, owners, and customers. This can mitigate liability risk for the programmer and for the ultimate end user as well.
Challenges for AI Algorithms
That can still be challenging in AI algorithms. There can be a conflict of interest between trade secrets. The need for transparency in public projects is important. As you may know, public projects must have hearings and agreements on budgets. There are earmarking of funds for specific tasks. AI is a technology based on software code. Sometimes that code can be trade secret. It could be subject to a trade secret and proprietary in nature. Cities, states or countries could enter into agreements with programmers or developers. So when that happens there could be friction in that regard.
So spending at that level will create inherent conflict too. Moreover, that conflict can get resolved through an open hearing process for most of the project. Then having a closed hearing process for the trade secret components of the project. But also there is a faction of interest that comes to a head and we will need to resolve that conflict.