New IEEE Standards for Artificial Intelligence Affecting Human Well-Being

August 8, 2017

With an increase in artificial intelligence technology being integrated into our world, the IEEE Standards Association has created three new projects that focus on the well being of humans in the creation of autonomous and intelligent technologies.

These projects fall under the Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Autonomous Systems (AS). The new IEEE P7000TM Standards aim to allow organizations to demonstrate that their products conform to a high level of ethics.

The first new standard is The Standard for Child and Student Data Governance (IEEE P7004TM), which focuses on the collection of data from children and students. This standard helps create governance and certification processes for organizations that collect this data. Parents deserve to understand who has access to their children’s data, when and what is being collected, how it will be used, when it will be deleted. In terms of student data, the standard defines specific methodologies to ensure transparency of how data is collected by educational institutions.

IEEE P7005TM is the Standard for Transparent Employer Data Governance and was created to provide organizations with guidelines and certifications about the collection, usage and protection of employee data. Organizations and workplaces may not know how to deal with employee data collection ethically and transparently. This standard can help employees better understand how information is shared in the workplace.

The ethical development of AI is really important to avoid the risk of machine-to-machine decisions that could impact where personal data ends up. IEEE P7006™ – Standard for Personal Data Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agent describes the technical elements required when developing AI ethically and also keeping a human involved in all decision making. This will ensure that personal data use remains transparent even when an AI agent is being used.