GuIA, the initiative that puts ethics in Artificial Intelligence into practice, starts in Spain

GuIA is an initiative promoted by OdiseIA (Observatory of the Social and Ethical Impact of Artificial Intelligence) that aims to realistically land the necessary measures to achieve responsible and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence in Spain.

Odyssey, the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, IBM, Google, Microsoft y Telefónica have come together in a unique event held last Friday that marks the beginning of a process to establish real and concrete measures.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) It is already a reality present in products and services that we consume daily. AI is used when we shop online, when we recommend movies or songs, when we automatically translate a text, or when we talk with our devices. But it also makes predictions or participates in decisions that have a more important impact on our lives, such as when we want to take out a financial product or insurance. In the near future, we will even have it when we receive a medical diagnosis or participate in a judicial process, and a long etcetera that will increase as the commitment to this technology in Spanish companies and organizations increases.

But the AI It also has undesirable consequences.. For example, the perpetuation of stereotypes or bad social practices, such as discrimination against minorities, races or genders. Also the opacity of some of their algorithms, or the excessive autonomy that we give to these systems. For these reasons, the development, parallel to the evolution of the technique, of the ethics associated with these applications is so necessary. In a world in which science fiction prejudices, associated with these technologies, make us dream of robots that replace and surpass humanity, initiatives are necessary that establish the real concepts and uses of AI for each sector, and that ensure its responsible use in order to prevent these negative consequences.

With this objective, OdiseIA was born, a Spanish organization created by a group of independent experts and internationally recognized professionals in Artificial Intelligence, motivated by the purpose of promoting AI in Spain taking into account ethics and responsibility.

Richard Benjamins, cofundador de OdiseIA, ha destacado que “en los últimos años ha habido una proliferación de principios éticos de AI y para muchas organizaciones es difícil saber qué principios son más adecuados para su sector. Además, existe poca experiencia compartida sobre cómo aterrizar estos principios en el día a día. Difundir estas experiencias al tejido empresarial y administración pública es el objetivo de la iniciativa GuIA”.

This will be “a collaborative platform, verticalized in all sectors, that will integrate ethics, technology and business against the negative perception of AI in a practical approach so that these principles can be applied,” he added.

This issue is especially important now that we are experiencing the emergence of artificial intelligence and most disciplines are not yet mature and vulnerable, like any child or adolescent who begins to make relevant decisions. "OdiseIA was born with the objective of taking action in the responsible use of AI. We want to help promote AI Spain, but promoting the awareness of companies and organizations about the need to take real ethical measures in its application. Only in this way will social acceptance be achieved and risks minimized, he points out. Idoia Salazar, president of OdiseIA.

Salazar recalled that the objective "is to work for the responsible use of AI by creating a community, generating social awareness, promoting research, proposing concrete and realistic actions or developing barometers of the reality of AI in Spain. With GUIA what is intended is to land measures, which are concrete actions."

The initiative of OdiseIAGuIA (Best Practices Guide for the ethical use of artificial intelligence), was born with this philosophy. Its objective is to integrate in a grounded way a technological, business and ethical vision in Artificial Intelligence systems. Thus, it started this Friday in an online event aimed at executives and professionals from all business sectors.

To Carmen Artigas, Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, emphasizes that the integration of AI into society poses important challenges, not only from a technological point of view, but also at a regulatory, ethical and social level. In this sense, the Secretary of State has highlighted the need to promote AI that places the person at the center, moving towards a model that allows us to fully explore all the possibilities that AI offers through an ethical framework that guarantees the fundamental rights of citizens and an environment of trust in the new digital era.

At the event, all the actors agreed on the need, which is materialized in GuIA, to ground the ethical concepts that surround Artificial Intelligence. The importance of covering the empty space that exists between the declarations of global principles that served to start ethical reflections on AI, and the reality grounded in specific use cases and business processes. Also resolved through specific technologies.

In his speech, Artigas assured that a framework of trust is necessary for the development of key technologies in the economic recovery of our country. This “is a historic opportunity to rebuild our economy” to be able, through digitalization, to be a more modern and inclusive economy, to be in a position of advantage in new technologies and to generate quality employment, it is “an opportunity, a technological revolution, that we must not miss as a country.”

“Hay un diagnóstico y una hoja de ruta con el Plan España Digital 2025”, ha afirmado, en el que la IA será clave y que, a día de hoy, la economía digital podría representar el 19% del PIB nacional, siendo el segundo sector por detrás de la construcción. Nos enfrentamos en estos momentos a distintos retos, ha explicado, que son el “tecnológico” (una IA robusta, segura, auditable y explicable), “ético” (que encaje con nuestros principios y valores sociales, que los datos sean de los ciudadanos y no de empresas o gobiernos), “normativo” (cumplimiento) y “social” (gobernanza, con implicación de la sociedad). Además considera que, poniendo a la persona en el centro, hay que aprovechar esta oportunidad para cerrar brechas y que, para ello, se está trabajando en una herramienta como es la carta de derechos digitales de la ciudadanía, actualmente en consulta pública hasta comienzos de diciembre.

The Secretary of State has highlighted the importance of Spanish in AI and has advanced the next presentation of the new national Artificial Intelligence strategy, which will be continually reviewed so that it is always updated, or other projects such as the “Data Office” or the “national green algorithms program”, so that the algorithms are sustainable from their conception. In his conclusion he stated that we have a unique opportunity for reconstruction, to redesign the country digitally, on more robust pillars and that, for this, "there are resources."

Technology commitment

The technology companies are putting a great effort. Their commitment to this discipline is public and important, aware of its relevance. Many of them publish their studies and tools so that companies that use their technology do so in a responsible manner.

Pilar Manchón, Senior Director of AI ResearchStrategy at Google, highlighted that "it is extremely important that there is a dialogue like this where both the different challenges and opportunities in AI are reflected, as well as a wide and diverse range of perspectives that enrich the debate and guarantee ethical use of these tools. We hope that the result of the study will help all types of public and private organizations to make responsible, ethical and safe use of technology, without inhibiting their capacity for innovation and their positioning and competitiveness in the market. "To achieve this, it is essential to educate citizens, debunk myths and achieve a standard of transparency and ethical practices that generate trust. This will allow us to move steadily towards aspirational goals, for example in precision and 'explainability', which today are beyond the state of the art. In short, we want to do our part to democratize access to AI, and that more and more people contribute to creating AI tools for the benefit of society."

The same way, Enrique Delgado Samper (CTO of IBM Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel), commented that "At IBM we only defend, work and collaborate for an AI in which values ​​such as fairness, transparency and trust are always at the center of its development and application. The value of an AI system is not in its technological power per se, but in its ability to contribute to the fair progress of people and serve the common good. From that ethical basis, its potential to help us and enhance the best capabilities and values ​​of human beings is immense."

Also David Carmona (Artificial Intelligence&Innovation General Manager en Microsoft) declaró que “El desarrollo de inteligencia artificial responsable va más allá de identificar los desafíos y establecer unos principios; requiere también implantar nuevas prácticas en el ciclo completo de desarrollo así como herramientas y tecnologías especificas en áreas como privacidad, transparencia o control de los algoritmos”.

On the other hand, sector companies are also very aware, knowing of their fundamental social responsibility towards their clients. In addition, an ethically correct use of these technologies could positively impact the perception that they may end up having.

participated in the event Francisco José Montalvo, Chief Data Officer of Telefónica, who noted: "Since the publication of its AI principles in 2018, Telefónica is working on their implementation in the company's daily life. It has defined training programs for employees, technical tools, an ethical questionnaire and a governance model. In addition, the use of AI is included within a broader framework of "responsible design" covering privacy, security, sustainability, ethics, accessibility and the customer."

Juan Manuel Belloto, director of the GuIA initiative, has emphasized in his conclusions the broad presence of Spanish professionals in important positions in large international companies and has recalled that there is a lot of work to do and the importance of it being collaborative. A good example is OdiseIA, in which you can participate as an individual or as an institution, and which plans to present the conclusions of GuIA at the end of 2021, including the existing good practices of companies and public organizations from different sectors along with practical and coherent use cases.

Finally, Sea Goat, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and co-founder of OdiseIA, has been in charge of conducting this event and as a closing, a headline: “this is just the beginning.”

The GuiA Process Continues

As next steps, the objective is to bring together the main actors that make up the Artificial Intelligence ecosystem. A necessary Public-Private collaboration exercise that boosts the assimilation of Artificial Intelligence in an ethical manner in all business sectors, something so important for society.

An initiative that also coincides in time with the presentation of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy by the current government, a fact of special relevance for Spain.

After last Friday's event, the conclusions will be published throughout the first quarter of 2021, after an exhaustive analysis of each of the strategies presented.

In the second quarter of 2021, a collaborative analysis will be carried out between experts from different areas (differentiated by sectors), who will contribute their point of view and real needs to the document. Specific workshops will be held with representatives of these companies and organizations. The document editing process will be led by recognized experts.

Finally, in October 2021, an event will take place in which the Guide will be presented to the public with the participation of the Government and participating companies and institutions.