On 13th Feb 2023, AI Monday held their first event since DAIN Studios began overseeing the event series, at Porthania in the University of Helsinki.
There were 333 total participants, with 253 online viewers and 80 physical attendees. Thought-leaders and AI experts were gathered together to discuss the EU AI act and what it means for businesses, individuals, and the future of technology.
Here is the rundown of the event:
Nina Hagman, Senior Data Strategist at DAIN Studios:
- Laid out the schedule for the evening and offered some background information about AI Monday and DAIN Studios.
- Download Nina’s slides here.
Patrick Qvick, Principal Data and AI Strategist at DAIN Studios:
- Ran through an introduction to the EU AI Act, answering questions such as:
- Why did the AI Act come into being?
- What does the legislation enforce?
- How will it be enforced?
- When will it come into effect?
- Download Patrick’s slides here.
Meeri Haataja, CEO at Saidot:
- Spoke about the fact that there is no need to panic and reassured businesses that, when considering the legislation in the wider context of the history of responsible AI, it was important not to catastophise the consequences of the act.
- She stated that the legislation is an extension of ‘normal engineering good practice’ and that such requirements are reasonable for high-risk systems such as those which use AI.
- Download Meeri’s slides here.
Juha Vesanto, Tribe Lead at OP Financial Group:
- Spoke about the benefits of ‘starting early’ when it comes to responsible AI and gave a behind-the-scenes look at the data and AI world of the OP Financial Group.
- His presentation included a timeline which showed how his organisation has been thinking about AI since 2017.
- Juha showcased OP’s AI transparency framework. It included eight assessment categories which were: AI Application, Algorithms, Data, Risk and Impact, Responsibility and Ownership, Transparency, Explainability and Contestability, Use and Development Practices, and Compliance.
- It also included four viewpoints which were: Customer, Internal Specialist, External Specialist, and Auditor.
- Juha explained how at OP, each of the different categories are tested with a list of questions from the four viewpoints. Taken as a whole, this approach allows OP to make an overall assessment of the responsibility level provided by the firm.
- Download Juha’s slides here.
Pasi Rautio, Service Manager for the City of Helsinki:
- Spoke about how he provides data and AI solutions to a complex web of 535 services across a team of 40,000 people.
- He mentioned that the EU should have involved the public sector in its consultation process more and outlined how the City of Helsinki is taking preparatory steps even before the AI Act comes into practice.
- So far, they have formulated data and AI ethical principles, overseen a data and AI ethical board, written AI procurement standards, and created an AI register.
- Download Pasi’s slides here.
Timo Tirkkonen, Partner at Inventure:
- Spoke about responsible AI from the standpoint of an investor.
- He said that ‘clever people will turn the AI Act to their advantage and to a USP.’
- Despite the opportunities, he also voiced some concerns about the impact on competitiveness, asking the question of whether some firms might consider leaving the EU in search of lighter-touch regulation.
- In addition, Timo was critical of the definition of AI in the act which he called ‘vague.’ He said that the interpretation ‘has the potential to include companies whose core tech was not considered AI but only ML.’
- Download Timo’s slides here.
All in all, one of the key takeaways was that progress happens faster when we work together. This gathering was a good example of how AI Monday creates intimate alliances between businesses and the tech sector. During the evening, we shared knowledge and encouraged people to learn more about responsible AI in a forward-thinking, open-minded environment.
We are looking forward to the next event.
You can watch the recorded event below.
