WASHINGTON – Today ITI, the global voice of the tech sector, released the first industry-wide policy principles on Artificial Intelligence (AI). These principles will serve as an important guide for industry and governments to ensure AI’s responsible growth and deployment as society realizes the full benefits of this life-changing technology.

AI is already an integral part of daily life, work and existence. This technology is behind the ability to receive directions from a smart-phone, make a purchase with one click on an e-commerce site, and enable safety features in automobiles.

AI is also leading the way in life-saving technologies, such as early cancer detection, and is helping to create a more inclusive society and economy, such as turning complex descriptions or manuals by simplifying key messages in the form of images and spoken messages.

It’s also revolutionizing the way we do business and advancing our economy. Many companies are training and re-training their employees for an automated future, ensuring they have the new skills needed to work with the technology and increase their productivity. It is estimated that AI will add between $7.1 trillion and $13.17 trillion to the global economy by 2025.

There’s no question AI will continue to transform our lives, society, and economy for the better,” said Dean Garfield, President and CEO of ITI. “To ensure that we allow AI to flourish while guarding against unwanted impacts, our industry is committing to a set of principles to formalize our promise to responsible design of AI. These principles will evolve as AI evolves and will provide a compass for our approach. These principles are not just a vision of our path forward, they are a call to action for all of society to fully realize the smart, responsible growth of artificial intelligence. We look forward to working with lawmakers, academia, industry partners, and the general public on the exciting road ahead.”

ITI’s Artificial Intelligence Policy Principles were developed by its member companies over the past year. With the release of the principles, the tech industry commits to: promoting the responsible use and development of AI; supporting governments’ research and development to foster innovation through incentives and funding; and cultivating public-private partnerships among governments, academia, businesses, and the general public to promote democratized access to AI and new workforce training models.

The development of AI is an important moment in history. That’s why the tech industry, which is at the forefront of AI’s advancement, is pledging its responsibility to work with governments, academia, industry and the general public to carefully determine AI’s direction and role so it is deployed in ways that continue to enrich our society and enhance our economy.

“AI and machine learning have the potential to dramatically impact the role technology plays to improve nearly every aspect of modern life,” said Susan Moore, AMD Corporate Vice President, Government and Public Affairs. “AMD believes it is important to work across the industry and with governments, academia, and the public to leverage these exciting technologies and help solve some of society’s toughest challenges.”

“The keys to adoption of AI are transparency and trust," said Christopher A. Padilla, Vice President, IBM Government and Regulatory Affairs. “That means telling people when AI is being used and how it came to its recommendations, and being clear that AI should augment human judgment, not replace it. The ITI industry principles are an important step forward, and complement IBM's own commitment to responsibility in how AI is used and applied.”

“We believe that the power of intelligence through computers and technology can bring great benefits to society—augmenting human capability and enabling advances in education, healthcare, transportation, sustainability, economic efficiency and many other areas,” said Fred Humphries, Corporate Vice President of U.S. Government Affairs at Microsoft. “Governments, civil society, industry, and researchers must be thoughtful as AI is developed and deployed to bring about the greatest benefit for all. Principles like these are a part of that effort.”

“Data captured at the edge of the enterprise can be turned into actionable insights to drive digital transformations,” said Marija Zivanovic-Smith, Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Public Affairs and Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO at NCR Corporation. “Given the potential impact of AI on society and humanity, we believe that principles like these are instrumental in driving AI innovation forward in a manner beneficial to all stakeholders.”

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