Responsible AI begins here: getting started with ALLY

Is your organisation eager to start working with data and AI applications, but do you still have questions about how to approach this responsibly? Is ethics a vague concept for you, and do you not know where to start or what to do? Many companies do recognise the added value of AI, yet its implementation remains limited. There are many uncertainties concerning the knowledge and skills needed, the impact on jobs, and the ethical and practical challenges. An elaborated strategy around the responsible development and implementation of AI in the organisation is rarely present. However, this will help increase the success rate of AI innovations and foster greater trust in your organisation among various stakeholders, both within and outside the organisation.

To support organisations in developing such a strategy, the Knowledge Centre Data & Society and FARI - AI for the Common Good Institute developed ALLY, an online guide to support organisations in setting up a strategy around responsible AI.

Organisations - no matter their size, expertise or familiarity with AI - that want to use data and AI responsibly can use ALLY to take practical and clear steps and grow further in this. ALLY is not a checklist, but a guide that supports organisations in establishing a framework of actions to work towards responsible AI.

A good strategy around the responsible development, implementation and use of data and AI applications includes actions or building blocks within the four pillars central to ALLY: 

• Values & structures: Establish effective frameworks and ethical principles that guide the decision-making process and responsible behaviour within your organisation.
• Communication & participation: Communicate transparently and openly, and actively engage stakeholders to encourage collaboration, gather feedback and foster a shared understanding of AI initiatives.
• Culture & skills: Encourage a positive, critical and flexible organisational culture, and work on team members' skills to address practical, technical, as well as social aspects of data and AI.
• Processes & methods: Implement efficient and structured work processes to achieve your goals, ensuring efficiency and adaptability in tasks and projects.

But who takes on what part of the strategy around responsible AI, and how do you create support and acceptance in your organisation? A responsible AI strategy concerns the entire organisation. When implementing it, it is therefore important to involve the relevant people. ALLY indicates in each case who is best involved in which building blocks or action points. This is to successfully implement the action in the organisation, but also to create familiarity and support around this action. The job profiles listed may vary greatly in organisations, but they do give an indication of which knowledge and skills can make a valuable contribution.

How to embark with ALLY, where do you best start? ALLY offers you a step-by-step process in which you go from exploring, to planning, building, and then finally devoting and sharing.

• In the exploration phase - the phase in which you explore which building blocks are interesting for your strategy - you not only have an overview of the different building blocks per pillar, but you can also read up on cases. In these cases, organisations testify how they worked with one of the building blocks and what lessons they learned for their strategy and organisation. You can also request an ALLY demo, in which we present an overview of the ALLY approach and building blocks to your organisation.
• In the planning phase, you dive deeper into the building blocks and examine which building blocks your organisation is already doing and which building blocks are (best) on the agenda. You will then work out a roadmap for your organisation using the building blocks. On which building blocks will you focus first, and on which building blocks do you want to focus afterwards? You can do this in an ALLY workshop, which you can facilitate yourself using a script, or you can appeal to one of our facilitators.
• In the development phase, you will sit down with your team and develop this roadmap. Who will be responsible for implementing a building block? Who will you engage with? How will you approach each building block? What do you want to achieve?
• In the implementation and share phase, you will look at how the strategy can become a permanent part of the organisation. What processes will you establish to make the new strategy a success? How do you communicate your responsible AI strategy? In this phase, you can also share a case of your experience with a building block. That case will then be presented on the ALLY website.

The online guide ALLY offers support in many areas, but do you prefer a guided trajectory? A standard ‘Start with ALLY’ trajectory consists of 3 sessions and can be adapted on request.

At the end of this process, you have a roadmap or action plan, containing the actions your organisation will take to responsibly deploy AI. This roadmap will help you make targeted investments in responsible AI, define internal responsibilities and avoid risks in terms of reputation, adoption and social resistance. After this short trajectory, a follow-up trajectory is possible in which the roadmap is further developed in a more detailed elaboration of the timing, tasks and planning.

Are you interested in the “Start with ALLY” trajectory? Have a look at this page and contact us with your question.