IEEE Position Statement

Artificial Intelligence
Approved by the
IEEE Board of Directors (24 June 2019)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been defined in many ways. One definition is “Artificial
Intelligence is that activity devoted to making machines intelligent, and intelligence is
that quality that enables an entity to function appropriately and with foresight in its
environment.” 1 Regardless of the exact definition, artificial intelligence involves
computational technologies that are inspired by – but typically operate differently from –
the way people and other biological organisms sense, learn, reason, and take action.

Applications of artificial intelligence increasingly affect every aspect of society, including

defense and national security, civil and criminal justice systems, commerce, finance,
manufacturing, health care, transportation, education, entertainment, and social
interactions. Applications such as these are expanding through the combination of
advanced processors, large datasets, and new algorithms. By one estimate, AI will
contribute about $13 trillion to global GDP by 2030.2

1
“Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030: One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence,”
2016, http://ai100.stanford.edu/2016-report. Other examples include the following: IEEE-USA
defines AI as “the theory and development of computer systems that are able to perform tasks
that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition,
learning, decision-making, and natural language processing.” IEEE-USA Position Statement,
“Artificial Intelligence Research, Development and Regulation,” February 10, 2017,
https://ieeeusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/AI0217.pdf; India’s National AI Strategy
Discussion Paper defines AI as “a constellation of technologies that enable machines to act with
higher level of intelligence and emulate human capabilities of sense, comprehend (sic), and act
(sic).” NITI Aayog, National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, Discussion Paper, June 2018,
http://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/NationalStrategy-for-AI-Discussion-
Paper.pdf. Google’s chief executive officer defined AI as “computer programming that learns
and adapts.” Sundar Pichai, “AI at Google: Our Principles,” June 7, 2018,
https://blog.google/topics/ai/ai-principles/.
2
Jacques Bughin et al., “Notes from the AI Frontier: Modeling the Impact of AI on the World
Economy,” McKinsey Global Institute Discussion Paper, September 2018,
https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Artificial%20Intelligence/No
tes%20from%20the%20frontier%20Modeling%20the%20impact%20of%20AI%20on%20the%20
world%20economy/MGI-Notes-from-the-AI-frontier-Modeling-the-impact-of-AI-on-the-world-

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As artificial intelligence becomes a greater part of our everyday lives, it becomes
increasingly important to manage its rewards and risks, build trust in AI-enabled
systems, and integrate ethical considerations into designs.3 This can best be done
through ongoing engagements between policy makers and technologists, aimed at
encouraging and stimulating the development of artificial intelligence while protecting
the interests of the public.4 5 6
To ensure that artificial intelligence serves the interests of society, IEEE urges
governments to adopt policies that:
1. Increase AI technical expertise within governments and foster greater
government access to academic and private-sector technical expertise.

a. Governments can take various approaches to increasing internal

technical expertise. They can train current employees in AI or recruit
people with AI expertise into existing positions; establish new permanent
offices and positions with a specific focus on AI technical expertise; and
provide support for programs that temporarily place academic or private-
sector technical experts in government positions.7

economy-September-2018.ashx.
3
See, as examples: “Ethically Aligned Design” at https://ethicsinaction.ieee.org/; Future of Life
Institute’s “Asilomar AI Principles” at https://futureoflife.org/ai-principles/; “Montreal Declaration
for a Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence” at
http://nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2017/11/03/montreal-declaration-for-a-responsible-
development-of-artificial-intelligence/; “Toronto Declaration: Protecting the Rights to Equality
and Non-Discrimination in Machine Learning Systems” at https://www.accessnow.org/the-
toronto-declaration-protecting-the-rights-to-equality-and-non-discrimination-in-machine-learning-
systems/; “Partnership on AI” at https://www.partnershiponai.org/; “OpenAI” at
https://openai.com/about/
4
Public policies include laws, government regulations, and non-regulatory mechanisms such as
subsidies and government purchases.
5
See, for example, “Annex B: G7 Innovation Ministers’ Statement on Artificial Intelligence,”
Montreal, Canada, March 2018, http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/employment/2018-labour-annex-b-
en.html.
6
In: J. Holdren and M. Smith, “Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence,” Executive
Office of the President, National Science and Technology Council, 2016,
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/whitehouse_files/microsites/ostp/NSTC
/preparing_for_the_future_of_ai.pdf; and “Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030: One Hundred
Year Study on Artificial Intelligence,” 2016, http://ai100.stanford.edu/2016-report.
7
US examples include the temporary placement of academic personnel in government positions
under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, Office of Personnel Management,
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/intergovernment-personnel-
act/#url=Provisions; and the Science and Technology Policy Fellowships program, American

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 b. Government agencies and offices should establish relationships with
technical experts outside government to complement increased
technical expertise within government. Non-government experts can serve
on advisory committees,8 be engaged in public hearings, participate jointly
with government experts in workshops on issues relevant to AI, and
respond to requests for technical analyses of potential public policy
interventions.

2. Support the R&D needed to advance innovation and development in

artificial intelligence and its application to benefit humanity.

a. Provide and stimulate R&D investment in artificial intelligence.

Current progress in AI makes it timely to focus public and private R&D
investment on more capable AI systems in all areas of application, and on
maximizing societal benefits while mitigating associated risks.

b. Promote and fund interdisciplinary research on societal implications

of artificial intelligence. Research topics include ethics, safety, privacy,
fairness and algorithmic bias, liability, explainability, and trustworthiness of
AI technology. Societal aspects should be addressed, not only at the
academic level, but also involving business, policymakers, civil society,
and other stakeholders in trials and demonstration projects.

c. Remove impediments to third-party research on fairness and

algorithmic bias, security, privacy, and social impacts of Artificial
InteIligence systems. Some interpretations of existing laws are
ambiguous regarding whether and how proprietary AI systems may be
“reverse-engineered” and evaluated by third parties, such as academics,
journalists, and other researchers. Enabling such research requires
careful consideration of trade-offs between potentially competing values
such as transparency and protection of trade secrets, or access to data
and individual privacy. Nevertheless, third-party research is needed if AI
systems are to be properly vetted and held accountable.

Association for the Advancement of Science, http://www.aaas.org/program/science-technology-

policy-fellowships.
8
Australian government ministers can bring in outside experts through boards and advisory
committees, https://www.directory.gov.au/boards-and-other-entities. Canada has Chief Science
Advisor to the Prime Minister, who can form committees of experts on specific topics,
https://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2017/09/26/chief-science-advisor. Singapore government consults
with members of the community through various advisory committees, see, e.g.,
https://www.imda.gov.sg/regulations-licensing-and-consultations/content-standards-and-
classification/consultation-with-committees.

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 d. Encourage and fund test and evaluation laboratories. Evaluation
laboratories can provide scientifically sound testing environments for AI-
enabled systems and processes. Such environments can, in turn, be used
to develop scientifically sound protocols for evaluations of AI-enabled
systems and processes and collection of data necessary for evidence-
based decision-making.

3. To ensure public welfare, provide an effective legal and regulatory

framework for AI development, application, use, and monitoring.

a. Create an appropriate mechanism to determine how AI technology

should be coordinated and regulated. This mechanism can take
different organizational forms, such as an intergovernmental taskforce or a
special commission. However constituted, the body should seek input
from a range of expert stakeholders, including academia, industry, civil
society, and government, as it considers questions related to the
governance and safe deployment of AI. It should consider societal
implications; public engagement; appropriate levels of public investment;
economic and national security impacts; transparency, accountability and
explainability; trust and safety assurance; ethical principles; and legal and
regulatory compliance.

b. Develop protocols for field testing systems employing artificial

intelligence. Engineers need field trials to test AI systems in a public
setting to determine their safety and effectiveness, to gather data, and to
let the machine learn to operate in public. But field testing of AI-systems
can pose a risk to the public, one that the public may not recognize that it
is accepting. Necessary protocols would be similar to clinical trial
protocols and would have a similar purpose.

c. Ensure that AI regulations always comply with human rights laws

and prioritize the protection of personal data relating to the individuals
coming into contact with AI systems or algorithms.

d. Ensure that intellectual property rights laws account for unique

characteristics of AI. AI potentially has the capability to both infringe on
intellectual property (IP) and to generate outputs that are worthy of
additional intellectual property protection.
e. Ensure that liability laws account for the inclusion of AI in systems and
products.

f. Recommend the application of international system and software

engineering standards in relevant regulatory frameworks, at least to
assure fail-safe operations where health and safety are concerned.

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 4. Support and fund AI education and training to meet future workforce
needs.

a. Support and fund education for AI technical expertise. The

extraordinary growth in AI has created public and private sector demand
for knowledgeable personnel who have both technical expertise and
ethical and cultural awareness. Addressing workforce needs will help
maintain technological competitiveness, and ensure that the skills
acquired by the workforce remain relevant in the future.

b. Encourage the development of credentials for creators and operators

of AI-enabled systems and processes that affect individual life,
rights, liberty, privacy, or right to opportunity. Both creators and
operators of AI-enabled systems need to be able to demonstrate that they
understand operating parameters, appropriate uses, and limitations of
such systems. Credentials would create trust that AI-enabled processes
can reliably, repeatably, and predictably create the desired outcomes.
c. Support and fund retraining opportunities for people whose jobs are
affected by AI. AI is disrupting existing industries, often resulting in
reduction in jobs or economic strength in these industries. There is a need
to design educational, training, and development strategies for jobs that
are changed as a result of AI, including jobs that can take advantage of
the division of labor between humans and machines.

5. Facilitate public understanding and discourse about AI.

a. Develop strategies for informing and engaging the public on AI

policies, as well as benefits, risks, and challenges of AI applications. This
will be critical to creating an environment conducive to effective decision
making, particularly as more government services come to rely on AI.
Public opinion related to trust, safety, privacy, employment, society, and
the economy will drive public policy.

b. Promote artificial intelligence literacy among the general population.

Include education about AI in curricula at all levels.

IEEE believes that AI systems hold great promise to benefit society, but also present
serious social, legal and ethical challenges, with corresponding new requirements to
address issues of systemic risk, diminishing trust, privacy challenges and issues of data
transparency, ownership and agency. Our recommendations and commitments related
to the ethical aspects of AI systems are addressed in a separate IEEE Position
Statement entitled Ethical Aspects of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems.

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About IEEE

IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing

technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications,
conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is
the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers,
and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer
electronics.

Recognizing that artificial intelligence can profoundly transform industries, economies,

and societies, IEEE will continue to encourage, facilitate, and support meaningful
discussions of its development and societal implications.

Related Resources from IEEE

IEEE-USA Position Statement entitled “Artificial Intelligence Research, Development

and Regulation,” issued 10 February 2017 and available at https://ieeeusa.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/10/AI0217.pdf. This statement addresses issues from a U.S.
perspective and is intended as input to U.S. policymakers.

IEEE European Public Policy Committee Position Statement entitled “Artificial

Intelligence: Calling on Policy Makers to Take a Leading Role in Setting a Long-Term AI
Strategy,” issued 15 October 2017, and available at http://globalpolicy.ieee.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/10/IEEE17021.pdf. This statement addresses issues from the
European perspective and is intended as input to European Union policymakers.

“Ethically Aligned Design, First Edition,” published 25 March 2019 and available at
https://ethicsinaction.ieee.org/. This document is the result of a study conducted by The
IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems. The Initiative
brings together several hundred participants from six continents, representing
academia, industry, civil society, and government “to ensure every stakeholder involved
in the design and development of autonomous and intelligent systems is educated,
trained, and empowered to prioritize ethical considerations so that these technologies
are advanced for the benefit of humanity.”

The IEEE Standards Association is developing the P7000 series of standards focusing
on ethical considerations in Autonomous/Intelligent Systems (A/IS), including:

 IEEE P7000 (Model Process for Addressing Ethical Concerns During System
Design)9

9 https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/7000.html

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  IEEE P7001 (Transparency of Autonomous Systems)10
 IEEE P7002 (Data Privacy Process)11
 IEEE P7003 (Algorithmic Bias Considerations)12
 IEEE P7004 (Standard for Child and Student Data Governance)13
 IEEE P7005 (Standard for Transparent Employer Data Governance)14
 IEEE P7006 (Standard for Personal Data Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agent) 15

10 https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/7001.html
11 https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/7002.html
12 https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/7003.html
13 https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/7004.html
14 https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/7005.html
15 https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/7006.html