AI risk: Board directors need to assess ‘distance from harm’

Last week we held a fascinating Pathway20 workshop in Abu Dhabi on artificial intelligence (AI) for board directors.

We were advised by our excellent speakers

• Dr Abrar Abdulnabi
• Alex Aliper
• Hoda Alkhzaimi
• Sallyann Della Casa
• Hailey Yoon
• Jinane Mounsef Biri

that everyone should stay curious when it comes to AI, even though many people are still very nervous of it and its risk to jobs.

Data-driven decision-making key to AI for board directors

In polls we ran, half of attendees said they used AI daily already.

Of those:

1. 88% use auto complete in Google searches
2. 71% use website chatbots
3. 65% use Face ID
4. Almost half use voice assistants like Alexa and Siri
5. Almost half use Uber
6. 6% use a robot vacuum cleaner or a Tesla!

Three-quarters said the key skill for board directors when it comes to AI is in data-driven decision-making: in being able to interpret and leverage data insights effectively.

And the most important question a non-executive director could ask, according to three-quarters of our workshop attendees, is: “how is the organisation incorporating AI into its overall strategy and business model?”

Half also thought a NED needed to ask:

• How does the organisation address bias and fairness concerns in AI algorithms and decision-making processes?”

and

• “How does the organisation ensure that AI-based decisions are understandable and auditable?”

AI & risk: The distance from harm

The ‘distance from harm’ was a phrase that resonated for me in assessing AI.

When a board looks at AI risk to consider any guard rails and governance required, they should use a Red, Amber, Green (RAG) system that incorporates the distance from harm.

For instance, using an AI chatbot on a site is low-risk, as it only uses pre-programmed answers, while the AI being used in medical laboratories is much higher risk.

Another AI tool I found useful was the landscape analysis that was discussed – input, output, impact – that is to say, review the input pf AI (the quality of data, any bias), the output (how reliable is it?) and the impact.

[Related: Say hello to AI, our new fellow board member – by HE Khalfan Belhoul, chief executive of Dubai Future Foundation]

AI prompts for board directors

I thought that a couple of suggested AI prompts for board directors were very useful: you can ask ChatGPT, Bard etc:

• How would someone argue against this point of view?
• What are diverse points of view on [this topic]?

We also noted that attendees were questioning the impact of AI on jobs across the business. A new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) came out last week, too, and found that more than a quarter (27 percent) of jobs in wealthy countries are in industries where AI could replace many human workers.

A big thank you to Abu Dhabi Investment Office and Hub71 for supporting and hosting us at this workshop.

AI reading materials

• Ethics of AI – transparency of AI
• 8 alternatives to Chat GPT and Bard

Pathway20 is a year-long accelerator to help women board directors gain their first independent board role. Find out more