The CDEI’s research demonstrates that there is an opportunity for the UK to be a world leader in AI assurance, drawing on its strengths in legal and professional services, AI research and standards.

Improve links between industry and independent researchers, so that researchers can help develop assurance techniques and identify AI risks.

Support organisations to meet regulatory obligations by setting requirements that can be assured against.

Build an accountable AI assurance profession to ensure that AI assurance services are also trustworthy and high quality.

Develop standards that provide a common language for AI assurance.

Build a dynamic, competitive AI assurance market, that provides a range of effective services and tools.

Generate demand for reliable and effective assurance across the AI supply chain, improving understanding of risks, as well as accountabilities for mitigating them.

It sets out the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, and identifies six priority areas for action:

The roadmap, which is the first of its kind, brings coherence to a fragmented and nascent ecosystem. But assurance services for AI are currently relatively undeveloped. These tools ensure that complex products are trustworthy and compliant with regulation, improving organisations’ confidence to invest and delivering better outcomes for consumers. It addresses one of the biggest issues in AI governance identified by international organisations including the Global Partnership on AI, OECD and World Economic Forum.Īssurance services - like audit, certification and impact assessments - are common in other sectors, such as financial services and cybersecurity. The roadmap, which was a commitment in the UK’s National AI Strategy, follows calls from public bodies including the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and industry, to build an ecosystem of tools and services that can identify and mitigate the range of risks posed by AI and drive trustworthy adoption. The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI), the government expert body enabling trustworthy innovation in data and AI, has set out the steps required to build a world-leading AI assurance ecosystem in the UK. AI assurance will be critical to realising the UK government’s ambition to establish the most trusted and pro-innovation system for AI governance in the world, set out in the National AI Strategy.A mature AI assurance ecosystem has the potential to be a multi-billion pound industry in its own right, unlocking growth and thousands of new job opportunities.By verifying that AI systems are effective, trustworthy and compliant, AI assurance services will drive a step change in adoption, enabling the UK to realise the full potential of AI and develop a competitive edge.

The UK government’s Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) has published a roadmap setting out the steps required to build a world-leading AI assurance ecosystem.

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