Auditing the AI auditors: A framework for evaluating fairness and bias in high stakes AI predictive models.

Emilio Ferrara

16 April 2023

The significant advancements in applying artificial intelligence (AI) to healthcare decision-making, medical diagnosis, and other domains have simultaneously raised concerns about the fairness and bias of AI systems. This is particularly critical in areas like healthcare, employment, criminal justice, credit scoring, and increasingly, in generative AI models (GenAI) that produce synthetic media. Such systems can lead to unfair outcomes and perpetuate existing inequalities, including generative biases that affect the representation of individuals in synthetic data. This survey study offers a succinct, comprehensive overview of fairness and bias in AI, addressing their sources, impacts, and mitigation strategies. We review sources of bias, such as data, algorithm, and human decision biases—highlighting the emergent issue of generative AI bias, where models may reproduce and amplify societal stereotypes. We assess the societal impact of biased AI systems, focusing on perpetuating inequalities and reinforcing harmful stereotypes, especially as generative AI becomes more prevalent in creating content that influences public perception. We explore various proposed mitigation strategies, discuss the ethical considerations of their implementation, and emphasize the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure effectiveness. Through a systematic literature review spanning multiple academic disciplines, we present definitions of AI bias and its different types, including a detailed look at generative AI bias. We discuss the negative impacts of AI bias on individuals and society and provide an overview of current approaches to mitigate AI bias, including data pre-processing, model selection, and post-processing. We emphasize the unique challenges presented by generative AI models and the importance of strategies specifically tailored to address these. Addressing bias in AI requires a holistic approach involving diverse and representative datasets, enhanced transparency and accountability in AI systems, and the exploration of alternative AI paradigms that prioritize fairness and ethical considerations. This survey contributes to the ongoing discussion on developing fair and unbiased AI systems by providing an overview of the sources, impacts, and mitigation strategies related to AI bias, with a particular focus on the emerging field of generative AI.

Kush R. Varshney Huan Liu Lu Cheng

1 Januari 2021

In the current era, people and society have grown increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. AI has the potential to drive us towards a future in which all of humanity flourishes. It also comes with substantial risks for oppression and calamity. Discussions about whether we should (re)trust AI have repeatedly emerged in recent years and in many quarters, including industry, academia, healthcare, services, and so on. Technologists and AI researchers have a responsibility to develop trustworthy AI systems. They have responded with great effort to design more responsible AI algorithms. However, existing technical solutions are narrow in scope and have been primarily directed towards algorithms for scoring or classification tasks, with an emphasis on fairness and unwanted bias. To build long-lasting trust between AI and human beings, we argue that the key is to think beyond algorithmic fairness and connect major aspects of AI that potentially cause AI’s indifferent behavior. In this survey, we provide a systematic framework of Socially Responsible AI Algorithms that aims to examine the subjects of AI indifference and the need for socially responsible AI algorithms, define the objectives, and introduce the means by which we may achieve these objectives. We further discuss how to leverage this framework to improve societal well-being through protection, information, and prevention/mitigation. This article appears in the special track on AI & Society.

Gaelle Cachat-Rosset Alain Klarsfeld

22 Februari 2023

ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) is present everywhere in the lives of individuals. Unfortunately, several cases of discrimination by AI systems have already been reported. Scholars have warned on risks of AI reproducing existing inequalities or even amplifying them. To tackle these risks and promote responsible AI, many ethics guidelines for AI have emerged recently, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles and practices. However, little is known about the DEI content of these guidelines, and to what extent they meet the most relevant accumulated knowledge from DEI literature. We performed a semi-systematic literature review of the AI guidelines regarding DEI stakes and analyzed 46 guidelines published from 2015 to today. We fleshed out the 14 DEI principles and the 18 DEI practices recommended underlying these 46 guidelines. We found that the guidelines mostly encourage one of the DEI management paradigms, namely fairness, justice, and nondiscrimination, in a limited compliance approach. We found that narrow technical practices are favored over holistic ones. Finally, we conclude that recommended practices for implementing DEI principles in AI should include actions aimed at directly influencing AI actors’ behaviors and awareness of DEI risks, rather than just stating intentions and programs.

E. Shmueli Dana Pessach

3 Februari 2022

An increasing number of decisions regarding the daily lives of human beings are being controlled by artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) algorithms in spheres ranging from healthcare, transportation, and education to college admissions, recruitment, provision of loans, and many more realms. Since they now touch on many aspects of our lives, it is crucial to develop ML algorithms that are not only accurate but also objective and fair. Recent studies have shown that algorithmic decision making may be inherently prone to unfairness, even when there is no intention for it. This article presents an overview of the main concepts of identifying, measuring, and improving algorithmic fairness when using ML algorithms, focusing primarily on classification tasks. The article begins by discussing the causes of algorithmic bias and unfairness and the common definitions and measures for fairness. Fairness-enhancing mechanisms are then reviewed and divided into pre-process, in-process, and post-process mechanisms. A comprehensive comparison of the mechanisms is then conducted, toward a better understanding of which mechanisms should be used in different scenarios. The article ends by reviewing several emerging research sub-fields of algorithmic fairness, beyond classification.

Ádám Nagy Hannah Hilligoss Nele Achten + 2 lainnya

15 Januari 2020

The rapid spread of artificial intelligence (AI) systems has precipitated a rise in ethical and human rights-based frameworks intended to guide the development and use of these technologies. Despite the proliferation of these "AI principles," there has been little scholarly focus on understanding these efforts either individually or as contextualized within an expanding universe of principles with discernible trends. To that end, this white paper and its associated data visualization compare the contents of thirty-six prominent AI principles documents side-by-side. This effort uncovered a growing consensus around eight key thematic trends: privacy, accountability, safety and security, transparency and explainability, fairness and non-discrimination, human control of technology, professional responsibility, and promotion of human values. Underlying this “normative core,” our analysis examined the forty-seven individual principles that make up the themes, detailing notable similarities and differences in interpretation found across the documents. In sharing these observations, it is our hope that policymakers, advocates, scholars, and others working to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of AI will be better positioned to build on existing efforts and to push the fractured, global conversation on the future of AI toward consensus.