AI in a disruptive environment

 

Using AI in a disruptive environment is gaining traction according to the latest report from FICO (www.fico.com) and Corinium (www.coriniumintelligence.com).  

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to put strain on many enterprises, the FICO report “Building AI-Driven Enterprises in a Disrupted Environment” (https://bit.ly/31WUc1c) surveyed more than 100 C-level analytic and data executives conducting in-depth interviews to understand how organizations are developing and deploying AI capabilities.  

The study found that the uncertainties caused by the pandemic have forced many organizations to adopt a more committed, disciplined approach to becoming an AI-driven enterprise, with more than half (57%) of the chief data and analytics officers saying that COVID-19 has increased demand for AI, digital products and tools.

Most data-driven enterprises are now aggressively investing in their AI capabilities, in fact 63% of respondents have started scaling AI capacity within their organization.  However, enterprise chief data and chief analytics officers are facing a wide range of challenges as they increasingly look to grow AI, in particular 50% say they are hampered with poor data quality, 60% cite regulatory and compliance risks, whilst 93% say ethical considerations represent a barrier to AI adoption.

“Being ethical is not being blind to what’s in the model,” said Dr. Scott Zoldi, Chief Analytics Officer, FICO.  “Organizations need to ensure that AI is designed robustly and is explainable, transparent, built ethically and governed by auditable, recorded development process that is referenced as data shifts over time.”

According to the report, ensuring AI is used responsibly and ethically in business context is a huge, but critical task.  Whilst half of survey respondents said they have strong model governance and management rules in place to support ethical AI usage, more work is needed to ensure ethical AI usage as 67% of AI leaders don’t monitor their models to ensure their continued accuracy and ethical treatment. This is despite those pushing for greater AI responsibility within an organization are at board level (60%) or in charge of legal or compliance (52%).

Enterprises are seeking new AI-driven ways to mitigate risks and navigate through uncharted territories in the current economic environment. The report reveals the central role AI has in shaping the future as global markets work through and begin to recover from COVID-19; as well as how to mitigate future risk and disruption going forward.