Ferma urges new EC group to address AI ethics in underwriting and corporate world

Ferma has called on the EC’s new expert group looking into the role of artificial intelligence (AI) to consider the future insurability of commercial organisations if underwriting is left to AI technology and, more broadly, to define ethics surrounding its use in the corporate world. Late last week, the EC appointed 52 experts to its new High Level Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI HLG). The group – consisting of representatives from academia, business and civil society – will support implementation of a European AI strategy. This will include developing ethical guidelines by the end of this year that consider principles on data protection and transparency. There are currently no clear EU ethical rules for data generated and used by AI tools. Ferma has called on the AI HLG to urgently address two priorities for European business, as well as its risk and insurance-buying members, when it comes to AI. Ferma’s first concern centres around the use of AI for underwriting commercial insurance. It urged the group to draw a “clear line” between the “opportunities of AI technologies, and the threats posed by the same technologies to the insurability of organisations as a result of overreliance on AI during decision-making processes”. AI will allow insurers to offer a whole range of better risk mitigation services through, for example, multiple connected devices in industrial equipment processed by algorithms, providing deeper and ever more precise analytics. However, a debate is soon likely to follow about where to draw this line between the benefits to insureds and the use of these same tools to decide whether to underwrite a certain risk or the conditions of cover. Similar concerns have been raised about the use of AI to underwrite health insurance for consumers. Ferma also wants the expert group to look into corporate ethics when it comes to AI. It urged the EC to define AI-related ethics for employees, as well as for suppliers and actors “all across the value chain”. Ferma said AI tools will allow increased and constant monitoring of an extremely high number of different parameters. It said the risk management profession believes this greater use of data could create concerns among stakeholders, and risks to reputation. In short, Ferma seems concerned that the huge amount of data available could be misused and that the constant monitoring of suppliers and employees via AI could put relationships under strain. It believes ethical guidelines around the use of AI are needed in response. Ferma will be able to interact with the AI HLG through the European AI Alliance. It has been developed by the EC as a dedicated platform for stakeholders to offer input and feedback to the group. Ferma president Jo Willaert said the federation stands ready to bring its expertise in enterprise risk management to the discussion, and help “manage the threats and opportunities posed by the rise of AI to our organisations and society within acceptable risk tolerances”. Mr Willaert said Ferma believes new possibilities offered by AI must “remain compatible with the public interest and those of the economy and commercial organisation”. He went on to praise moves taken by the EC to kickstart discussion on this topic. “Public authorities have a key role to play to ensure that there is a human judgement as a last resort. This dialogue between regulators and AI users must start now and the newly-set-up AI HLG and open-access European AI Alliance are the right settings,” he said. The AI HLG will make recommendations on how to address mid- and long-term challenges and opportunities related to AI in Europe. The recommendations will feed into policy development, the legislative process and help deliver a “next-generation” digital strategy. The group will also prepare draft ethics guidelines that will build on the work of the European group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. The guidelines will cover issues such as fairness, safety, transparency and, more broadly, the impact on upholding fundamental rights – including privacy and personal data protection, dignity, consumer protection and non-discrimination. The draft guidelines will be finalised by the end of the year and presented to the EC at the beginning of 2019. The AI HLG will first meet on 27 June. Other planned events include joint meetings with EU member states, specialised workshops and consultation with the European AI Alliance.

Ferma urges new EC group to address AI ethics in underwriting and corporate world

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