Beyond Ethics Washing: Impact Assessments, Audits, And Oversight For AI – Panel Discussion at CDPD 2023

Helsinki Institute for Social Science and Humanities is organizing a panel discussion on AI at CPDP 2023 in Brussels, Belgium. The panel will discuss about how can organisations implement practices that stimulate responsible application of AI systems, and how can - increasingly digitized - democratic societies establish necessary checks and balances? REPAIR collaborator Mirko Schäfer will be moderating the discussion.

CPDP is a non-profit platform originally founded in 2007 by research groups from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Université de Namur and Tilburg University. As a world-leading multidisciplinary conference CPDP gathers academics, lawyers, practitioners, policy-makers, industry and civil society from all over the world in Brussels, offering them an arena to exchange ideas and discuss the latest emerging issues and trends.

On Friday May 26th at this year’s CDPD, Helsinki Institute for Social Science and Humanities, University of Helsinki organizes a panel discussion:

BEYOND ETHICS WASHING: IMPACT ASSESSMENTS, AUDITS, AND OVERSIGHT FOR AI

A plethora of ethics manifesto’s, guidelines and frameworks calls for responsible AI and data practices. Legislation is under way to regulate AI practices. But how to effectively close the gap towards practical application? How can organisations implement practices that stimulate
responsible application of AI systems, and how can - increasingly digitized - democratic societies establish necessary checks and balances? Looking further than the good intentions of ethics guidelines, this panel discusses which best practices are most effective to align the design and use of AI systems with the values of our open and democratic societies. This panel investigates how practical approaches, such as impact assessments and audits, and the role of oversight bodies help to establish responsible and safe uses of AI and big data practices and can constitute accountability.

• Should impact assessments be mandatory?
• Who is responsible for oversight and enforcement?
• Can we hold algorithms accountable?
• What are the limits to good governance of AI?

Moderator: Mirko Schäfer, Utrecht University / Visiting Professor University of Helsinki (NL/FI)

Speakers: Paul Nemitz, European Commission (BE/DE); Iris Muis, Utrecht University Data School (NL); David Graus, Randstad (NL); Maria Koomen, Open Governance Network for Europe (CA)