Over the past few years, many technology companies – and, frankly, many organizations that had never thought of themselves as inherently technological – have begun to recognize the importance of ethical and responsible development, design, deployment and use of artificial intelligence (AI). This can be attributed to the increased use of AI in many commonplace organizational functions, such as marketing platforms, talent management tools and search engines; and, by extension, the increasingly frequent ethical dilemmas emerging from the way in which these AI applications have been created or used. Many organizations have developed principles regarding AI ethics, such as transparency, explainability, privacy, robustness and fairness.

The Global Future Council (GFC) on AI for Humanity was convened under the mandate of finding solutions to critical issues of AI fairness. Some readers may wonder why this council of experts is primarily focused on fairness when there are many other issues within the burgeoning field of “AI ethics” worthy of being further addressed. With this council convening in 2020 at a time marked by deep economic and social unrest and injustice, the World Economic Forum hoped to shine a spotlight on fairness as an essential part of any future in which AI continues to be developed, deployed and used at scale.

The GFC comprises 24 experts from around the world, who are making advancements in this space. Representing many professional and cultural backgrounds, sectors and industries, the group recognized, and early on came to a consensus on, the multidimensional nature of AI fairness – which precludes any one definition of what “fair” AI looks like. For this reason, the following report outlines a holistic approach to addressing AI fairness education in an organization, which can be adapted to different sector and industry contexts as necessary. The report draws on several collective values including access, equality, equity and transparency. 

Not every organization will have the resources necessary to hire a dedicated team of AI ethicists, let alone experts focused on fairness specifically. Developing curricular materials to educate employees on the potential implications of biased or unfair AI, as well as methodologies, tools and practices to address these implications, will require even greater financial commitment and more resources. With this holistic look at the role and impact of different members of a business in addressing AI fairness, we hope to provide options and a North Star for any organization open to improving its practices or creating products with a positive and equitable impact on the larger population of the world.