Since it exploded onto the scene just over a year ago, Generative AI (GenAI) is quickly becoming a part of our everyday lives. Considering the speed of adoption, it’s almost impossible for the regulatory environment to keep pace with the tech, putting the onus on companies that design, build, and deploy AI to be bold, fast, and responsible all at once.
Responsible AI has long been a service that existed, but the ubiquity of GenAI and just how disruptive it will be to industries and economies is creating a much greater demand for our services in this area.
At KPMG, where our 36,000 people are using GenAI every day, and when our firm works with clients to integrate GenAI into their businesses, we focus on the importance of defining trusted AI in a comprehensive way. This framework incorporates critical areas including the sustainability impacts of AI programs and how they affect the workforce—as well as the expectation that companies explain how their AI solutions reach the answers they do. A comprehensive effort will drive trust as well as accelerate innovation and value creation as GenAI continues to be pervasive in many different industries and areas.
The importance of this approach was recently confirmed by a survey we conducted of 1,000 college-educated U.S. Consumers who follow the news, which revealed that despite the wave of enthusiasm around GenAI, there is little trust in any institution to ensure that the technology is used ethically. 78% of respondents said all organizations that use GenAI in their business and activities have a responsibility for ensuring it is developed and used ethically; yet, less than half trust them to do so.
This gap presents an opportunity for businesses to lead the charge in building trust–particularly those that are already using the technology within their organizations. Successful first movers will put guardrails–not speedbumps–on the AI highway and be the pacesetters for those that follow.
With human oversight, employee education, and training, and collaboration with regulators and industry peers now recognized as standard practices, here are a few other areas where businesses can focus to effectively generate trust in GenAI:
Establishing governance frameworks
According to our survey, 58% of consumers say that GenAI is already impacting their professional life–a stat that rises to 77% when looking at a one-to-two-year horizon. Similarly, 42% say it impacts their personal life today, with 60% expecting it to have an impact in the next one to two years.
As GenAI continues to be pervasive in many different industries and areas, it will be critical for public and private sector actors to establish trusted AI programs with clear ethical guidelines and controls for GenAI use within the organization, emphasizing transparency, fairness, and accountability. However, companies that win the long game on AI will go further by equally prioritizing reliability, security, and safety, as well as data integrity.
Indeed, trust is not built on mitigating risks alone. GenAI can and should be harnessed for good. Our survey found that consumers are most excited about its potential to improve mental and physical health by identifying health risks and reducing mundane tasks, identifying and protecting organizations from cybersecurity attacks, and creating new sustainability strategies for reducing carbon emissions.
Implementing regular assessments and ongoing monitoring
As GenAI goes mainstream, organizations are grappling with just how disruptive this technology will be and how to integrate it responsibly. 74% of respondents said that they trust organizations that increasingly use the technology in day-to-day operations and the majority (70%) believe that its benefits outweigh the risks.
The steps companies take now will determine if they build on that positive sentiment and capture the value of AI or risk opening the door to issues that will erode trust. However, operationalizing trusted AI at scale will be a major hurdle.
As part of their trusted AI frameworks, it will be important for businesses to implement regular assessments to check GenAI systems for biases, fairness, and security vulnerabilities. By regularly ensuring data integrity, AI solution reliability, and security practices, companies can safeguard against potential breakdowns in trust.
Closing the trust gap
Trust is a competitive advantage, particularly when seeking license to innovate. Our survey showed that despite a generally positive outlook on the potential use cases for GenAI, concerns remain–namely around fake news, scams, privacy, and cybersecurity. Interestingly, the oft-cited concerns of job displacement and bias didn’t rank as highly for our respondents.
All new and disruptive technologies are met with some degree of public scrutiny–and there is an understandable trust gap when it comes to GenAI. How businesses build, deploy, and transparently communicate their use of AI will dictate if that gap shrinks or widens in the not-too-distant future.
Paul Knopp is KPMG‘s U.S. Chair and CEO.
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