Transparency in Discussion: Improving Transparency and Accountability in AI Implementations

The UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), Elrha, and Humanitarian AI Today bring panelists together to discuss transparency and strategies for improving transparency and accountability in AI implementations. Michael Hind, Distinguished Research Staff Member at IBM Research; Shadrock Roberts, Director of Global Data Protection & Privacy at Mercy Corps; Scott Turnbull, Chief Technology Officer at Data Friendly Space; Liam Nicoll, Signpost Product Lead at Signpost AI Lab; and Sarah Spencer, a consultant who regularly speaks on humanitarian operations and applications of artificial intelligence, contribute their insights on transparency and ways of improving transparency and accountability in AI implementations. Touching on the existing landscape of AI initiatives within the humanitarian sector, key players, and what transparency means broadly and in practice, their views connect the humanitarian and technology communities and provide valuable insight into why transparency is crucial for building trust in AI systems and engaging stakeholders in developing and leveraging uses of AI for good. The panel discussion, guest hosted by Brent Phillips from Humanitarian AI Today, mixes input on AI systems, technical information disclosure, AI governance and regulation, and how humanitarian organizations are approaching developing, testing and deploying safe, responsible and trustworthy AI applications that are transparent and accountable to end users. Panelists each share their views on ways of improving transparency and offer ideas on directions to expand the transparency conversation. In closing, panelists provide a strong case for greater information sharing on AI use cases and greater inclusivity around transparency throughout the AI building and deployment process. This episode is part of a six-part panel discussion series sponsored and produced by Humanitarian AI Today in collaboration with the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH) and Elrha, with funding from UK International Development from the UK government. More information about this episode, its focus and upcoming discussions can be found by subscribing to the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub and Elrha's new AI newsletter: http://ukhih.org/newsletter.