LONDON, Dec. 7, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- Global research by a UK-based safety charity has
highlighted large gaps in the trust Danish, Swedish and Norwegian
people have in artificial intelligence (AI) based on experiences of
discrimination, amid fears of bias.
The statistics come from the latest report from the Lloyd's
Register Foundation World Risk Poll, powered by Gallup,
titled A Digital World: Perceptions of risk from AI and
misuse of personal data. The data, which features
responses from over 125,000 people in 121 countries, has revealed
nearly two thirds (65%) of people living in Scandinavian countries
believe AI will mostly help people in the future. However, these
figures drop when asking those who have experienced discrimination
based on their race, skin colour or sex.
In Norway and Denmark, where attitudes towards AI are among
the most positive in the world, 26% of respondents who had
experienced discrimination said AI would 'mostly harm' people.
Meanwhile, only 14% of Norwegians and 15% of Danes who had not
experienced discrimination felt the same way. This gap is slightly
smaller in Sweden (21% versus 11%)
– though still among one of the largest in the world.
The report notes efforts governments to develop 'trustworthy'
AI, such as Norway's National
Strategy for Artificial Intelligence – inviting public debate on
the ethical use of AI to address potential bias.
Dr Sarah Cumbers, Director of
Evidence and Insight at Lloyd's Register Foundation,
said: "AI technologies are rarely deliberately
discriminatory. Nonetheless, programming on the basis of data that
does not represent the whole population can often be the source of
serious unwanted consequences which greatly affect portions of the
population, and the World Risk Poll has shown the extent of concern
among these communities.
"What may be perceived as a design flaw – such as the
sensitivity of facial analysis software being influenced by skin
tone – is often the symptom of a larger inclusivity problem and can
greatly contribute to negative perceptions of AI. One of the most
striking cases of this can be found in Scandinavian
countries.
"While the population as a whole feels optimistic about AI –
more so than much of the rest of the world – responses from those
who have experienced discrimination show a very different
perception that policymakers cannot ignore. While we applaud some
of the steps countries such as Norway have already taken, there's still much
to do to combat AI bias. This starts with inclusion of those most
affected from the earliest possible stages of design, but also with
policies and practices that make the benefits of these technologies
accessible for all."
For more information on the World Risk Poll, please visit the
World Risk Poll website and to download data snapshots of each of
the countries, click here: Sweden, Norway, Denmark
WPR
LRfoundation@wpragency.co.uk
+44 (0)121 456 3004
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SOURCE Lloyd’s Register Foundation