Australia issues AI ethics principles

The government of Australia, through the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, has released a set of artificial intelligence (AI) ethics principles, as part of the country’s plans to develop an AI ethics framework. The principles should guide the design, development, and application of AI systems to achieve better outcomes; reduce the risk of negative impact; and apply high standards of ethical business and good governance. They were developed following a series of multistakeholder consultations launched in April 2019. The eight proposed principles refer to human social and environmental well-being, human-centred values, fairness, privacy protection and security, reliability and safety, transparency and explainability, contestability, and accountability. The principles are voluntary, and entities such as National Australia Bank (NAB), Commonwealth Bank, Telstra, Microsoft, and Flamingo AI have already signed up to test them in practice, according to the ministerial press release.