Committee on Standards in Public Life: Artificial Intelligence and Public Standards: report
R20-2
Response position Partially accepted
Published February 2020
Response position and delivery status are recorded separately. Acceptance does not establish implementation.
Recommendation (the Committee's words)
All public sector organisations should publish a statement on how their use of AI complies with relevant laws and regulations before they are deployed in public service delivery.
From: Committee on Standards in Public Life, Artificial Intelligence and Public Standards: report, February 2020
Government response
Government response (the government's words)
Introducing mechanisms for a more transparent use of algorithms within the government will encourage responsible public sector innovation and further enhance the UK’s long-standing leadership in the field of transparency and openness. Therefore, we will explore the development of an appropriate and effective mechanism to deliver transparency on the use of algorithms facilitating semi-autonomous decision making within the public sector. We will work in partnership with The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) and other organisations to pilot the proposed approach to transparency this year, and consider what would be needed to roll it out across the public sector.
Further, the UK is a signatory to the Freedom Online Coalition joint statement on AI and Human Rights. Through this, we (along with many other countries) have agreed to a number of provisions protecting human rights, including the following:
States, and any private sector or civil society actors working with them or on their behalf, should protect human rights when procuring, developing and using AI systems in the public sector, through the adoption of processes such as due diligence and impact assessments, that are made transparent wherever possible. These processes should provide an opportunity for all stakeholders, particularly those who face disproportionate negative impacts, to provide input. AI impact assessments should, at a minimum, consider the risks to human rights posed by the use of AI systems, and be continuously evaluated before deployment and throughout the system’s lifecycle to account for unintended and/or unforeseen outcomes with respect to human rights. States need to provide an effective remedy against alleged human rights violations.
Further, the UK is a signatory to the Freedom Online Coalition joint statement on AI and Human Rights. Through this, we (along with many other countries) have agreed to a number of provisions protecting human rights, including the following:
States, and any private sector or civil society actors working with them or on their behalf, should protect human rights when procuring, developing and using AI systems in the public sector, through the adoption of processes such as due diligence and impact assessments, that are made transparent wherever possible. These processes should provide an opportunity for all stakeholders, particularly those who face disproportionate negative impacts, to provide input. AI impact assessments should, at a minimum, consider the risks to human rights posed by the use of AI systems, and be continuously evaluated before deployment and throughout the system’s lifecycle to account for unintended and/or unforeseen outcomes with respect to human rights. States need to provide an effective remedy against alleged human rights violations.
From: HM Government. Source document ↗