An AI Ethics Board is a dedicated organizational body that provides oversight, guidance, and decision-making authority on ethical questions arising from an organization's use of artificial intelligence. It brings together diverse perspectives to ensure AI systems align with organizational values, societal norms, and regulatory requirements.
Typical AI Ethics Board composition includes: senior leadership representation (ensuring authority and organizational commitment), legal and compliance experts (regulatory and legal perspective), data scientists and AI engineers (technical understanding of AI capabilities and limitations), privacy and security professionals (data protection perspective), business unit representatives (operational context), external advisors (independent academic or civil society perspectives), and employee representatives (workforce impact considerations).
Key responsibilities include: reviewing high-risk AI use cases before deployment, establishing ethical guidelines and principles for AI development, adjudicating ethical dilemmas and edge cases, overseeing bias audits and fairness assessments, evaluating the societal impact of AI initiatives, recommending policy updates based on emerging AI risks, providing input on AI vendor selection and partnerships, and serving as an escalation point for AI-related ethical concerns.
Effective AI Ethics Boards require: a clear charter defining scope and authority, regular meeting cadence with documented decisions, integration with existing governance structures, access to technical resources for evaluating AI systems, mechanisms for employee and stakeholder input, and transparency about board activities and decisions.
