We at Mindtech are passionate about AI.  We believe that AI has the power to transform our lives and make the world a better place for all its inhabitants. It also has the capability to be used in ways that are morally wrong. Mindtech is committed to the ethical use of AI.

We can’t really put it any better than Spiderman’s Uncle, Ben Parker: “With great power comes great responsibility”

So with that, we publish our ethics policy below and welcome any comments and feedback.

Mindtech Ethics Policy

We commit to contribute to and uphold industry best practice for ethics in AI, using AI for positive activities, not for harm, helping to ensure we are creating solutions, not problems.  We also believe that AI should be inclusive, and its development should be attainable by anyone. The output of any AI system must be checked for accuracy relative to the task requirements, to ensure it does not break any of the principles below.

In making any decisions about the use of our AI technologies, we will use the following to determine if and how we should be engaged with any third party.

Fairness and equality: AI development should not exploit, discriminate or bias against any group of people. AI should focus on enhancing the human, not replacing the human.

Accountability:

AI should be developed in a way that does not cause harm to the living world.

Transparency:

We should be open about the methodologies behind our AI systems ,and used to train and run our AI systems.  The data used to train AI systems should be traceable and of known provenance.

Privacy and security:

No one should have their rights to privacy abused in the creation or deployment of AI systems. Any data used for training networks should be compliant with local  privacy legislation  and be securely stored.  AI systems should be secure to prevent tampering for example to introduce bias or other undesirable traits.

Mindtech will measure any engagement against these principles. An ethics committee, which will consist of at least 3 members of the senior leadership team alongside any specialists who are required to advise on specific circumstances, will have oversight of engagements and will be responsible for any decisions made in respect of these principles. We will welcome the opportunity to work with partners and customers who share our ethics.

AI is a fast moving, and rapidly changing area of technology, and as such it is expected that we may need to revise this policy to account for as yet unforeseen-use cases or changes in Government legislation.  We will always be guided by the key principles listed above and will regularly review to see if we should add additional items.