AI Ethics – Part II: Architectural and Design Recommendations

I’m pleased to announce that Part II of the AI Ethics series, “AI Ethics – Part II: Architectural and Design Recommendations,” has also been published in the Architecture & Governance magazine. Here’s the link:

https://www.architectureandgovernance.com/uncategorized/ai-ethics-part-ii-architectural-and-design-recommendations/

This article outlines a list of recommended architectural and design patterns, practices, and models to help architects and builders of AI solutions meet AI Ethics challenges:

• “The Ethics by Design” model proposed by the EU,
• Applying the Ethics by Design model for Generative AI (GenAI) based solutions,
• Recommended architectural patterns based on both multi-agent collaboration and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) patterns, and
• Additional architectural patterns and practices for end-to-end processes.

Highlights of this article are specific architectural and design recommendations to address these three (3) proposed AI Ethics Guiding Principles, which I outlined in Part I of this AI Ethics series. Here is the summary:

1. The Human-First Maxim: AI-based solutions shall not produce content or actions that are detrimental or harmful to humans (e.g., customers, employees, and other stakeholders) and/or society at large.

Ethics by Design Model Recommendations:

• Conduct regular impact assessments to identify potential harm.
• Implement robust monitoring and feedback mechanisms.
• Ensure transparency and explainability in AI decision-making processes.

Architectural and Design Patterns:

• Implement safety constraints and fail-safes.
• Use the Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pattern to ensure accurate and contextually appropriate responses.
• Incorporate human-in-the-loop mechanisms for critical decision-making

2. The Ethical Imperative: AI solutions shall adhere to the ethical edicts outlined by government laws and enterprise ethical governing bodies, as well as its architects and curators, barring situations in which such edicts are at odds with the Human-First Maxim.

Ethics by Design Model Recommendations:

• Align AI development with legal and ethical standards.
• Establish clear governance frameworks and ethical guidelines.
• Regularly update AI systems to comply with evolving regulations.

Architectural and Design Patterns:

• Use explainable AI (XAI) techniques to provide transparency.
• Develop modular AI components that can be easily updated.
• Use fairness-aware machine learning algorithms.

3. The Responsible Mandate: AI solutions should actively resist the propagation or magnification of biases, prejudices, and discrimination. They shall endeavor to discern, rectify, and mitigate such tendencies within their output. They shall maintain their integrity and protect themselves.

Ethics by Design Model Recommendations:

• Implement bias detection and mitigation strategies.
• Conduct regular audits and reviews of AI systems.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and ethical awareness.

Architectural and Design Patterns:

• Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure compliance.
• Implement continuous monitoring and logging.
• Develop self-healing systems to maintain integrity.

To make it more practical for architects and builders of AI solutions, we also need to take a holistic view of the end-to-end process on where and when to use which architecture/design pattern or practice. The following is a list of additional recommendations:

• Knowledge and Facts Based
• Establishing a Knowledge Base for Evaluation and Monitoring
• Processing AI Algorithms, Models, and Data: Monitoring with Agents
• Post-processing: Evaluation and Filtering

By carefully considering these architectural recommendations and incorporating them into the development of enterprise AI solutions, organizations can significantly increase the likelihood of creating AI systems that are human-centric, ethical, and responsible.

I welcome your feedback and would love to hear about your experience with adopting AI Ethics Guiding Principles and related architectural and design recommendations in your organization.

#artificalintelligence? #Aiethics? #itarchitect