Ten Essential Tips to Guide Responsible GenAI Adoption and Navigate This Transformative Era
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is widely considered a general-purpose technology. General-purpose technologies are powerful innovations that fundamentally alter the way economies function. They are disruptive and transformative. They have broad personal and professional applications and transcend industry. They don’t just solve a single problem; they create a ripple effect that reshapes entire industries, economies and societies. Historical examples of general-purpose technologies are the printing press, electricity, the personal computer and the internet. There is a key difference between GenAI and all the other general-purpose technologies that have come before it – the speed of its evolution and adoption. The speed of current technological advances within the broad field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has no historical precedent.
Traditionally, new technologies took decades to reach widespread adoption. Electricity took over 30 years to reach farm-households after urban electrification. The first mass-market personal computer reached early adopters in 1981 but did not reach most homes in the U.S. for another 20 years. Even the rapidly adopted internet took around five years to hit adoption rates that AI reached in just two years.
The speed of the changes in GenAI-based technology coupled with the rush to adopt it is creating tension in existing legal, economic and societal frameworks. GenAI adoption is challenging. Organizations must balance the desire for innovation and competitive advantage with the need for robust, specialized oversight of a complex and rapidly evolving and uncertain risk environment.
Prior to adopting any AI or GenAI tool or implementing an initiative, organizations should establish an AI Governance Program. An AI Governance Program is simply a framework of rules, policies, practices that will guide the organization or firm in the responsible, ethical development and deployment of AI tools/systems. The guiding principles of AI Governance are Fairness, Transparency, Accountability (Human in the Loop Oversight) and Privacy/Security. Typically, AI Governance Programs are (or should) be closely connected to any existing Data Governance Programs within the organization.
GenAI is a fundamental and transformative technology that is here to stay, requiring both a proactive approach to adopting its benefits and a cautious strategy to mitigate its significant risks. Organizations and firms must develop clear guidelines and foster a culture of responsible AI use in order to navigate this new landscape effectively.
Discover the top 10 tips to guide you in developing and deploying GenAI initiatives and tool:
