While much of Corporate America has rushed to develop artificial intelligence strategies, the role of the board of directors in that process has remained questionable. Technology officers? Of course. Innovators and business strategists? You bet. Senior executives? Goes without saying. But the board of directors? Not quite sure what they’d bring to the table, other than getting in the way. It’s just so technical that it’s best that the board sit this one out. And confusion about the board having any role has been confounded by the absence (until recently) of any guidance or release of related principles from the leading corporate governance public policy organizations. Boards have essentially been on their own when it comes to formulating a basic approach to the deployment of AI within their own organizations. But those, and other legitimate questions about board participation in AI development have been washed away by the tidal wave that is the Biden Administration’s new Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (“EO”). As described in an accompanying Fact Sheet, the EO “establishes new standards for AI safety and security” designed to insulate the public from potential harm. The new standards also focus on enhancing AI’s fundamental promise and supporting AI research in order to promote American competitiveness. Although it does not say so in exact words, this massive, fifty-page document describes the public policy for AI regulation in such imperative tones as to render obvious the related interest of corporate boards.
Full opinion : The Strong Case For Board Oversight Of Artificial Intelligence.
