Moffat Mungazi
Dr Evans Sagomba
Everything AI
ARTIFICIAL Intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming an integral part of our daily lives, transforming industries and enhancing the way we interact with technology.
However, with this increasing integration comes the need for ethical guidelines to ensure the responsible creation, implementation, and application of AI technologies.
This article explores the importance of AI ethics, focusing on transparency, accountability, data privacy, bias mitigation, job displacement, and customer empowerment, with a particular emphasis on how these principles can be applied in Zimbabwe.
Understanding AI Ethics
AI ethics refers to the moral guidelines that govern the responsible development and use of AI technologies. As AI becomes more embedded in products, services, and everyday activities, organisations must establish policies that dictate its appropriate use.
Emphasising AI ethics at both national and organisational levels helps safeguard businesses and individuals, promoting the thoughtful creation and application of AI while reducing potential risks.
Transparency and accountability in ai
With a particular focus on customer services, maintaining ethical considerations around AI is essential.
Transparency is a key ethical principle, as it builds trust and ensures customers are aware of the capabilities and limitations of AI-driven interactions.
For instance, an online store using an AI-based chatbot should communicate that the chatbot is AI-driven and explain its limitations.
Accountability is equally important. AI systems, while powerful, are not infallible. If an AI-driven customer experience goes awry, mechanisms for accountability must be in place.
This involves acknowledging errors, rectifying them promptly, and continuously improving AI models to prevent recurrence. For example, if an AI chatbot provides an incorrect recommendation, the system should alert a human representative to address the issue and ensure the customer receives accurate information.
Consider an online store in Zimbabwe implementing an AI-based chatbot to assist customers. A customer named Munashe is seeking toy recommendations for her nephew through the chatbot.
However, the chatbot can provide an incorrect recommendation that is potentially unsafe for the child’s age.
In this instance, transparency and accountability principles should be implemented.
The chatbot should acknowledge the error, explain that AI had generated the suggestion, and apologise for the issue. Furthermore, the chatbot should allow Munashe to continue the conversation with a human agent, ensuring she has access to accurate and safe information. In this way, the online store should demonstrate accountability by committing to improving the AI system to prevent similar errors in the future.
Protecting data privacy and consent
In the digital age, respecting data privacy is essential for maintaining an ethical customer relationship. Companies must ensure that personal data is handled securely and transparently.
AI has made significant advancements in recent decades, and one of the most intriguing developments is AI’s ability to self-learn. The self-learning process is challenging, especially concerning inputs from consumers.
The information users provide to AI systems may contain private information, such as online searches, social media interactions, and online purchases. AI can analyse this data to understand consumers’ needs and preferences better, enabling more effective personalisation of services and products.
It is crucial to consider both the transparency of these inputs and privacy preservation. Users must clearly understand how their data is used and what insights are drawn from it. Lack of transparency can lead to user distrust and privacy concerns.
Bias mitigation and diverse viewpoints
One of the most critical challenges for ethical AI is bias. AI systems can inadvertently perpetuate biases present in training data, leading to unfair or discriminatory outcomes. In the context of customer services, biased AI could result in unequal customer treatment based on race, gender, or socioeconomic status. Can AI be bias-free? In theory, yes.
The accuracy of an AI system is intrinsically linked to the quality of the data it’s trained on.
By meticulously eliminating both overt and subtle biases related to race, gender, or other ideological factors from the training data, it’s possible to construct an AI that delivers decisions without prejudice. Human oversight is essential for identifying and correcting any bias in AI-driven customer interactions.
AI used correctly can help reduce bias. For instance, organisations can eliminate biases in quality monitoring by analysing larger data sets for precise scoring.
Rather than focusing solely on a sample, AI can broaden the analysis to monitor the quality of all outbound and inbound calls.
Job displacement and human contact
While AI can automate many routine tasks and improve efficiency in customer experience, it is important to consider the potential impact on human employment. AI can be a valuable tool for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of work. For example, it can assist customer service agents by providing relevant information and suggested solutions during customer interactions.
However, it is essential to approach this change with sensitivity and empathy. Employees may fear that automation and AI threaten their jobs. Organisations must transparently communicate how AI will be integrated into operations and how employees can benefit from this technology.
Instead of replacing jobs, AI can enable employees to focus on more strategic and high-value tasks, such as solving complex problems that require human skills.
Finding the right balance between AI-driven efficiency and the value of human interaction is essential for ethically managing customers. Companies should strive to develop AI that supports agents in their daily tasks, allowing them more time to focus on high-value activities.
Customer empowerment
The ethics of AI in customer experience go beyond merely using technology; it is about empowering customers. AI can provide customers with information, recommendations, and solutions tailored to their needs. It can enable self-service options, giving customers greater control over their experiences.
For example, a customer in Zimbabwe looking for a specific product or service. AI can analyse the customer’s purchase history, preferences, and past searches to offer relevant and tailored recommendations.
This allows the customer to make informed decisions and feel valued by the company, receiving recommendations that truly align with their interests.
Furthermore, companies can use this information to design targeted campaigns for these customers, increasing sales and making campaign strategies more innovative and effective.
AI-driven recommendations should be transparent and aligned with the customer’s best interests and latest policies rather than being solely profit-driven. By openly acknowledging errors, offering choices, and rectifying them efficiently, companies build and maintain customer trust in the ethical implementation of AI in their services.
Join us every week as we delve together into the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), if you have specific areas that you need to address, please contact the editors or email the author directly (esagomba@gmail.com) and the issue will be addressed in the following week’s column.
Dr Evans Sagomba, Chartered Marketer/CMktr, FCIM, MPhil, PhD, AI, Ethics and Policy Researcher, AI Governance and Policy Consultant, Ethics of War and Peace Research Consultant, Political Philosophy, Chartered Marketer. Social media handles; LinkedIn; @ Dr. Evans Sagomba (MSc Marketing)(FCIM )(MPhil) (PhD) X: @esagomba
