Artificial intelligence (AI) is in the process of becoming the technology of the future. AI refers to the ability of a machine to
simulate human behaviour, such as reasoning, planning and creativity, particularly through the use of learning algorithms.
Businesses are increasingly using AI to develop more automated, personalized and customer-oriented services. AI also provides
new opportunities to reinforce and facilitate the detection and reduction of risk and fraud and to enhance regulatory compliance.
However, the use of AI is fraught with risk, as illustrated by Deloitte in one of its research studies6:
• Quality, quantity and relevance of the data used. The results of AI systems are dependent on the quality and quantity of
the data. If the datasets used to build algorithms contain biases, the generated algorithm is likely to reflect such biases
as well, or even amplify them.
• Operational opacity (black box, when referring to AI). Unlike older generations of AI where systems made very clear,
human-determined decisions, new generations will rely on very complex statistical methods based on thousands of
parameters. All these factors will make the final decision difficult to interpret, if not impossible to explain, by humans.
• Possible malfunctions. Algorithms do not possess the conceptual understanding and common sense that humans do,
which are necessary to assess radically new situations.
As pointed out in the latest reports of the World Economic Forum, artificial intelligence is at a turning point. In the short term, it
seems important that the development of artificial intelligence should meet minimum criteria for governance, ethics and risk
management. Such evaluation, according to Deloitte7, should focus on proving the reliability of the algorithms used (in terms of
internal and external verification), the intelligibility of models and the interactions between humans and intelligent algorithms.
It is therefore crucial that the duties of the Governance Committee be reviewed to include this matter and to develop a code for
the use of artificial intelligence in order to assure shareholders and interested parties (stakeholders) that the development and
use thereof involve placing humans at the heart of the machine, guaranteeing the veracity, security and confidentiality of the data
that feed it, and regulating the algorithms so that they incorporate diversity and overcome biases in the decision making process.