Navigating AI regulations can feel overwhelming. It may even confuse and scare you away from adopting AI into your business. Especially if yours is a business that runs globally and must adhere to various AI regulatory standards. There’s the EU AI Act, Biden’s Executive Order on Safe and Trustworthy AI, and the joint statement on AI by the FTC, DOJ, and CFPB. Not to mention the ISO 42001 standard and all other local AI policies! It’s. A. Lot.  

But here’s a refreshing truth: it’s not all as daunting as it may seem. In its essence, successful adoption of AI comes down to a few fundamental, manageable principles. And as long as you have those in place, and you understand and control what your AI model is doing, you’re good. This article shows how basic AI hygiene can put you ahead of the curve.   

Successful AI adoption comes down to a few essential, manageable principles.

Many AI regulations, a few straightforward truths  

So yes, with all AI policies popping up around the world can easily overwhelm and intimidate even. But when you strip away the legalities, these regulations share a set of basic AI hygiene measures, as also addressed by ISO 42001. We’ve listed them below to help you understand and control your AI model(s):  

• Risk management framework: Analyze what could go wrong with your AI system and plan to monitor and mitigate those risks. Be proactive, not reactive. 
• Data governance: Make sure that the data you use to train your model(s) is high quality, free from unethical bias, and securely manage access.  
• Transparency and human oversight: Know and understand what your model does, be able to explain its inner workings, and especially how it makes decisions. Rule of thumb: if its processes are a black box, it should not replace human decision-making.  
• Robustness and security: Will your model keep doing what it’s meant to do? Ensure it performs (and keeps performing) as expected and that you protect it against tampering or degradation. 

Stay ahead by asking yourself these two questions   

Ask yourself these two questions to place yourself many steps ahead of the average AI user:

• Do I understand my model? Which is to say, you need to be able to explain how your AI model works and ensure alignment with your goals.  
• Am I monitoring my model? Specifically, are you monitoring your model’s input (data) and output (results) to keep an eye on its processes to ensure it continues to function as you expect it to?  

Distinguishing between AI software and AI models 

We (Sygno) clearly distinguish between the AI software that generates models (model generation) and the AI models that we ultimately deploye for use and potentially decision-making (model execution):

• Model generation: The AI software performs complex tasks like pattern recognition, training, learning and model generation. This can (and is allowed to) be intricate and multifaceted.  
• Model execution: the generated models for eventual deployment must be more straightforward and comprehensible, specifically for non-technical users.  

Through this distinction, we offer greater clarity and more straightforward AI models that are easier to interpret, understand, and use. Meanwhile, the underlying software manages more complicated processes, such as finding unnoticed patterns in your data. Using this approach, we make sure that your AI tools are practical, compliant and accessible.

Continuous validation and monitoring 

What’s more is, we strongly emphasize ongoing AI model validation procedures. That involves continuously monitoring your data flows and evaluating your model’s results. Both aspects -monitoring your data flows and evaluating your model’s results- are integral to your model continuing to perform as expected and remains aligned with your organizational goals. 

Enhanced model generation and data monitoring dashboards

To summarize, in focusing on foundational, basic AI hygiene (knowing your model, governing your data, ensuring transparency, and maintaining robustness and security) you can put yourself ahead of the curve. Hopefully we’ve given you some insight with this article into how, with the right approach, you can make navigating AI regulations more manageable. And we’re committed to helping you get there! If you are interested in seeing our enhanced model and data monitoring dashboards? We launch its new release in September, so contact us for a Sygno Analytics platform demo. Looking forward!