What do consumers need to know about Artificial Intelligence asks Lords committee

The Committee will explore issues such as the problems companies face when developing AI for business applications, the role ethics have to play in the development and deployment of AI systems and what consumers are concerned by about the rising use of AI in everyday products. The Committee will also consider whether a dedicated AI watchdog or regulator is needed.

These are among the key issues the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence will be raising with two panels of witnesses on Tuesday 7 November 2017 from 3.30pm.

The first panel will be at 3.30pm and the Committee will hear from:

• James Luke, Chief Technology Officer for the Public Sector, and Master Inventor, IBM
  IBM is one of the world’s best known technology companies. For the past six years IBM has been developing its AI platform for business, Watson. The system rose to fame in 2011 after winning the US quiz show Jeopardy!, and has since been adapted for a range of commercial applications.
• Andrew de Rozairo, Vice President, Customer Innovation and Enterprise Platform, SAP
  SAP is Europe’s largest software company, the world's third largest independent software manufacturer, working with more than 360,000 customers. SAP systems interact with 70 per cent of the world's transactional data.
• Kriti Sharma, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Bots, Sage
  Sage is a market leader for integrated accounting, payroll, and payment systems, and has 13,000 staff working with entrepreneurs in 23 countries.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

• What are the biggest advantages and disadvantages that AI could bring to UK businesses over the next 10 years?
• What problems have you faced when developing and deploying AI for business applications?
• What role do ethical guidelines or principles play when companies develop AI systems?
• How do you guard against prejudice that may be embedded in training data and prejudice stemming from the lack of diversity in the engineers that build AI systems?
• What is being done to provide training, education and apprenticeships in machine learning and AI?

The second panel will be at 4.30pm and the Committee will hear from:

• Colin Griffiths, Policy Manager, Citizens Advice
  Citizens Advice is a network of 300 independent charities which provides free independent, confidential and impartial advice to people on their rights and responsibilities.
• Will Hayter, Policy Director, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
  The CMA is an independent non-ministerial department which works to promote competition for the benefit of consumers, both within and outside the UK.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

• Is it important for consumers to be aware of AI and its implications?
• What are the biggest concerns related to the use of AI that you hear about from consumers?
• What impact is the dominance of very large tech corporations in the AI sector having on consumers?
• Are consumers concerned about how their personal data is used?
• How can data best be managed in the interests of the public?
• Do new mechanisms for legal liability and redress need to be considered for situations where AI gets it wrong and harms individuals?  

These evidence sessions will take place at 3.30pm on Tuesday 7 November 2017 in Committee Room 4A of the House of Lords.