With billions of dollars being poured into artificial intelligence systems, it is crucial to consider the ethical implications of AI. Models have been known to have built-in biases, such as with mortgage discrimination against Black homeowners. Knowing this, investors must ensure that company founders building AI put ethics as a top priority, rather than an afterthought.
To get more insight into this issue, TechCrunch+ spoke with four top investors from the AI sector about ethics, regulation, and how to make sure new technologies are built the right way.
One of the key points that came from the conversation was that founders need to have empathy in order to make sure the technology is built in an ethical and responsible manner. Alexis Alston, principal at Lightship Capital put it best: “Founder empathy is a huge green flag for us. Such people understand that while we are looking for market returns, we are also looking for our investments to not cause a negative impact on the globe.”
To make sure they’re making the right decisions, deep due diligence is involved in the process. Deep Nishar, managing director at General Catalyst said that it is important to “identify unintended consequences, discuss them with founding teams, and assess whether safeguards are or will be in place to mitigate them.”
Several international laws are currently being introduced in the US and in the EU, to make sure that AI is developed and used ethically. With the influx of VC funds in the Chinese AI sector, its important to see if the same enforcements will be made cross-border.
As an investor it’s important to enter the space with a level of awareness and understand where your money is going. Clarity on the ethics of AI development is paramount and founders should be held to a higher standard. An important factor to consider is whether they are making decisions that investors can ethically support. However, with the correct due diligence and certain regulations in place, the industry can only benefit in the long run.
