Vision to Action: Operationalizing AI with a Responsibility Pledge

Introduction

As businesses embark on integrating AI, establishing a solid foundation is crucial. This groundwork should address the mixed emotions AI stirs—fear, confusion, excitement, and the discomfort of change. A well-crafted AI Responsibility Pledge serves to ease fears and concerns while fostering curiosity and interest, crucial for engaging, aligning, and adopting AI across the company. Without this foundational step, businesses risk encountering resistance, both in attitude towards AI and its practical application, potentially hindering the successful integration and full realization of AI's benefits.

Let's go through my core points for a solid AI foundation.

1. People First: Empowering The Team

This one is first for a reason, because unless you're building an autonomous operation, AI should add to people, not replace them.

AI, at its best, amplifies the human element within the organization. By designing AI tools that boost the team's abilities, we focus on how technology can free up time for creativity and personal interaction, leading to more innovative solutions and a more engaged workforce.

2. Customer-Centric: Innovating for Value

Customers are everywhere, whether you're an internal team or providing the external product. AI should always add value both directly and indirectly.

Creating value for customers through AI drives us to develop solutions that not only streamline operations but also personalize the customer experience. AI can create a deeper more personalized interaction either directly by providing more details, or indirectly by assisting customer service, support or sales in other ways through the day and making more time to spend with providing best in class service.

3. Transparency: Fostering Trust and Openness

Take on fear, uncertainty and doubt by being clear about where and when AI is used.

Adopting a culture of transparency in your AI practices means you regularly share updates and insights into how AI systems operate. This openness fosters a deeper trust among employees, customers, and partners, encouraging a dialogue that leads to continuous improvements in AI initiatives.

4. Always Improving: The Journey of Innovation

AI is rapidly changing the way we work and the nature of technology solutions, you don't know what you don't know until you learn.

A commitment to continual improvement leads to a proactive approach to AI, where feedback loops and data analytics drive innovation. This mindset not only enhances AI solutions but also encourages a culture of experimentation and learning, keeping you at the forefront of technological advancements.

5. Integrity & Security: Safeguarding Our Values

With great power comes... you get the point. None of these foundational elements gets very far without safeguards and a strong will and procedures to do what is right.

In recognizing the power of AI, you should be committed to its responsible use. Development of data security measures and ethical usage policies ensure that customers' data is protected, reflecting an unwavering commitment to integrity and trust.

6. Respect for All: Championing Fairness and Equality

Never forget that AI is working with human based information that can be flawed or biased. Because of this, we must be the stewards of the results.

AI practices should be designed to reflect a commitment to a respectful and inclusive environment. By actively working to eliminate biases and ensuring your AI systems promote fairness, you create a technology framework that respects and values diversity.

Who "Takes" The Pledge?

An AI Responsibility Pledge should be aligned and sponsored with your c-suite leadership. It should be clear that the pledge embodies the needs and interests of all areas of the business. Your AI strategy team and IT leadership builds and drives these initiatives but the pledge is a top down opportunity.

Creating a pledge that the senior leadership promotes also creates the discussion that makes all voices heard. This can be a crucial time to address confusion, fears and to understand where the greatest energy and excitement comes from.

Communicating this pledge internally is obvious, but consider sharing it externally as well. The fact that you take this technology seriously enough to weave your company culture into it to ensure it keeps your identity and goals intact can be a powerful statement to your customers as well as your industry.

Building Your Pledge

How do you get started? Frankly, if you have nothing now, steal with pride. The above noted items should be general enough to provide a starting point for your discussion, but here's a few points to keep in mind.

Keep it simple

It should be easy to visualize in a single slide and it should be broad enough to encompass the rapidly changing nature of AI technology. The pledge should act as an addendum to your company culture statement, or guiding company principles. It should not be a legal document, though one could be created based upon it, if you've covered the key elements.

Partnerships

Start with a draft, then engage the primary areas of the business as partners who are going to review, provide feedback and ensure that they are represented. If possible, get others signed on as 'co-sponsors' so when this pledge gets to leadership, it has already has some socialization and agreement.

Legal and Communications

I highly recommend you run the pledge through your legal team. Not to make it into a legal document, but because legal can help create inclusive language and point out gaps or ambiguity that you could close up.

Communication teams are the icing on the cake, they can help shape the tone, language and company style that makes this document feel part of the whole, rather than a separate endeavor. Additionally, if you intend on socializing your AI Responsibility Pledge outside to your customers or have your leadership talk about it on stage at industry events, you'll want to ensure it aligns and can be communicated externally to those who may not know your mission or culture as deeply.

Does the Pledge have a 'Success Metric'?

Success with an AI Responsibility Pledge is having one that is aligned, adopted and referenced. It is not a destination but rather, guard rails and guidance on how AI influences what will or won't be done.

I would say that the success of a good AI Responsibility Pledge is when it surfaces in evaluations of third-party solutions, engagement with customers, product design and testing.

AI Pledge in Practice: ezCater Implementation

Under CTO Erin DeCesare 's leadership, ezCater's AI Responsibility Pledge becomes a living blueprint for integrating AI ethically. DeCesare's vision is clear:

"We're actively rolling out our AI pledge to encourage company-wide collaboration in leveraging AI for our collective benefit. While a 'pledge' might seem simple, it's an effective way to spark conversation and make AI more approachable."

This sentiment underscores the importance of leadership in driving the practical application of AI principles, ensuring that ezCater's approach to AI amplifies human capabilities, personalizes customer experiences, maintains transparency, fosters continuous improvement, and upholds integrity and security, all while respecting and valuing diversity. Through DeCesare's guidance, ezCater exemplifies the commitment to these principles, setting a precedent for ethical AI use in the industry.

Pledge led to birth of an AI Evaluation Matrix

In my case, the creation of the AI Responsibility Pledge led to a natural secondary document, a scorable AI evaluation matrix. I realized that I needed a structure that would ensure I was fairly reviewing AI use and considerations of new tools.

The AI Evaluation Matrix includes each of the pledge items, but adds things like a score for 'unconscious bias' so we can simply have the discussion that IF the potential exists, is it being considered or mitigated in some way. Additionally, the matrix covers legal, security, scalability, integration, support, ROI, user experience and a few others.

Looking Ahead

As we look to the future, an AI Responsibility Pledge is a guiding light, shaping how AI can help innovate responsibly. I envision a world where AI not only propels businesses forward but does so in a way that aligns with the best part of human values of respect, integrity, and community. AI should be looked at as an additive technology, not making us less human, but allowing us to be more.

Shaping the Future Together

If you're working with AI in your company than I invite you to create an AI Pledge. If you're a customer or client, then I'll ask you to begin to challenge companies engaging you with AI what their AI Responsibility Pledge looks like and how what they do with AI impacts the people they work with as well as those they work for. Determine for yourself if you wish to be the company or partner with another who doesn't have a solid position on how AI is being used.

Share your thoughts, challenges, and successes, and let's collaborate to build a future where technology and humanity 'work' together.