Making Algorithms Trustworthy with David Spiegelhalter - TWiML Talk #212
Dec 20, 2018
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David Spiegelhalter, Chair of the Winton Center at Cambridge and President of the Royal Statistical Society, dives into why trustworthiness is crucial for AI systems. He highlights the difference between being trusted and being trustworthy, stressing rigorous evaluations akin to drug development. Spiegelhalter discusses empowering patients through transparent AI in healthcare, enhancing decision-making with personalized explanations. Throughout, he advocates for integrating diverse expert insights to improve fairness and transparency in algorithmic practices.
The distinction between being trusted and being trustworthy is crucial for AI development, focusing on earning trust through reliable practices.
Robust evaluation phases in algorithm testing, akin to drug testing, are essential for ensuring algorithms deliver trustworthy performance in real-world applications.
Deep dives
Challenges in AI Deployment
Many enterprises face difficulties in transitioning from proof of concept to real-world AI deployment. This struggle primarily revolves around addressing issues of security, trust, compliance, and costs associated with using large language models (LLMs). The discussion highlights the importance of robust frameworks like Cisco's Motific, which aims to expedite the deployment process while ensuring a foundation of trust and efficiency. Such innovations are crucial for enterprises looking to leverage generative AI technology effectively.
Trustworthiness Over Trust
The distinction between being trusted and being trustworthy is emphasized as essential in algorithm design and implementation. Trustworthiness, as articulated by philosopher Inora O'Neill, focuses on enabling organizations and developers to earn trust through reliable practices rather than merely seeking trust. This perspective has significant implications for statistical practices in AI, such as advocating for rigorous evaluations that not only assess the systems themselves but also the claims made about them. This involves developing algorithms that transparently communicate their confidence and accuracy to users.
Statistical Rigor and Algorithm Evaluation
The evaluation of algorithms can be likened to the rigorous phases of drug testing in pharmaceuticals, emphasizing the need for careful assessment at multiple stages. Phase one involves initial testing for safety, while phase two compares algorithms with established benchmarks, such as the performance of medical experts. The need for phase three and four evaluations, which assess real-world impacts and post-deployment surveillance, is noted as often overlooked in AI development. Emphasizing statistical rigor in these evaluations helps prevent overconfidence in claims made by algorithms, ensuring they truly reflect trustworthy performance.
Today we’re joined by David Spiegelhalter, Chair of Winton Center for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge University and President of the Royal Statistical Society. David, an invited speaker at NeurIPS, presented on “Making Algorithms Trustworthy: What Can Statistical Science Contribute to Transparency, Explanation and Validation?”. In our conversation, we explore the nuanced difference between being trusted and being trustworthy, and its implications for those building AI systems.
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