Skip to main content
RBC Thought Leadership AI, Technology and Innovation AI Is Inherently Human. As Such, Inclusivity Matters
AI, Technology and Innovation
AI, Technology and Innovation

AI Is Inherently Human. As Such, Inclusivity Matters

As artificial intelligence plays a larger role in how we live and work, it's important to be mindful of the technology's inherent biases.

Artificial intelligence is truly all around us. And we’ve become so accustomed to using it, that we barely even notice it anymore. It’s there when we ask our smart speakers a question, it’s how we get recommendations on the next song to play, it helps filter spam from our inboxes. But as AI plays a larger role in how we live and work, so do its inherent biases.

A recent survey by Borealis AI, RBC’s AI research institute, found that 88% of companies believe bias exists in their organization. Yet almost half (44%) don’t understand the ethical challenges that bias presents in AI.

A surge in data use and biometrics during the COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened the need to examine these questions.

“AI amplifies the power imbalance in the people and organizations that are producing data on the population versus the population’s ability to understand that they’re being watched and surveilled,” said Ruha Benjamin, a sociologist and associate professor of African American studies at Princeton University, who was a guest on a recent Disruptors podcast about the ethics of AI.

So what do we need to think about, as we grow more dependent on artificial intelligence?

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Simplecast

AI amplifies bias

There is a significant human element to AI. The technology changes the ways we live and work, but we also shape it. It is humans who write the algorithms after all and AI-generated outcomes are only as good as the data that goes in. For instance, some of the original facial recognition systems and algorithms contained ethnic bias. They performed with high levels of inaccuracy for non-white faces – due largely to input data that skewed to white males. According to a recent BBC investigation, photos of women with the darkest skin were four times more likely graded “poor quality” than those of women with the lightest skin.

“AI makes bad things really bad very quickly. And that’s the risk that we have to manage and mediate,” said Saadia Muzzafar, a Canadian entrepreneur, author and the founder of Tech Girls Canada, a nonprofit created to promote women in science, technology, engineering and math.

The outcomes raise questions about what it means to be human and what our relationship is with these machines. The algorithms don’t care who we are – when done properly, AI can help capture a wide range of global perspectives, if the quality and equity is in the data.

Responsible AI can exist

Many Canadian companies are uncertain about how to use AI responsibly. A recent report from RBC Thought Leadership on the usage of facial recognition technology found six in 10 Canadian businesses feel that AI is mostly for larger organizations.

But its uses are increasingly everywhere. Regardless of the size of the task, businesses developing AI should avoid working in isolation. Canada is home to the world’s leaders in developing ethical AI. It’s here that the Montreal Declaration for the Responsible Development of AI was signed, the Privacy by Design certification was developed, and CIFAR’s AI & Societyprogram was born. In this spirit, RBC and Borealis AI have launched RESPECT AI, a hub for firms to gain practical solutions for the responsible adoption of AI.

“In Canada we can set the bar higher – and hold ourselves to a higher standard. We need to look at this as the long game,” said Muzzafar.

We humans do, in fact, know how to control this technology – AI is working as it’s designed. We just need to design it better.

Disruptors, an RBC podcast is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by RBC Thought Leadership. Information presented is believed to be factual and up-to-date but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the authors as of the date of publication and are subject to change. For cautionary statements relating to the information in this podcast, refer to the Legal Disclaimers on RBC.com/disruptors. For more disruptors content, like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit our webpage.

Read This Next

Permission to Fail: A case for youth entrepreneurship

Ronnen Harary, co-founder of Spin Master, on why your 20s offer a unique entrepreneurial advantage and how AI is creating white space for agile founders.

The billion-dollar question: Where are all the Canadian biotech unicorns?

Biotech in Canada is admired in the lab but largely overlooked in capital markets

Digital Refineries: Data centres as Alberta’s new resource

Alberta's tech minister Nate Glubish on attracting AI data centres without subsidies, protecting the grid and turning natural gas into intelligence.

Important notice regarding information on this website and Caution regarding forward-looking statements

This website is intended as general information only and does not constitute an offer or a solicitation to buy or sell any security, product or service in any jurisdiction; nor is it intended to provide investment, financial, legal, accounting, tax or other advice, and such information should not be relied or acted upon for providing such advice. Nothing herein shall form the basis of or be relied upon in connection with any contract, commitment, or investment decision whatsoever. The reader is solely liable for any use of the information contained herein, and neither the Climate Action Institute, nor Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”), its subsidiaries and its affiliates nor any of their respective directors, officers, employees or agents shall be held responsible for any direct or indirect damage arising from the use of any information contained herein by the reader.

Except as required by law, none of RBC nor any of its affiliates undertake to update any information on this website. All expressions of opinion on this website reflect the judgment of the authors as of the date of publication and are subject to change. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the information or expressions of opinion presented herein and they should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by RBC or any of its affiliates. All references to websites are for your information only. The content of any websites referred to on this website, including via website link, and any other websites they refer to are not incorporated by reference in, and do not form part of, this website.  This website is also not intended to make representations as to sustainability-related initiatives of any third parties, whether named herein or otherwise, which may involve information and events that are beyond our control.

From time to time, we make written or oral forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, including on this website, and in other communications. Forward-looking statements on our website include, but are not limited to, statements relating to economic or sustainability-related objectives, vision, ambitions, commitments, goals, and targets as well as potential events and actions. By their very nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, which give rise to the possibility that our predictions, expectations or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that our assumptions may not be correct, and that our economic or sustainability-related objectives, vision, ambitions, commitments, goals, and targets will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of risk factors – many of which are beyond our control and the effects of which can be difficult to predict – could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. Sustainability-related metrics, data and other information contained on this website are or may be based on assumptions, estimates and judgements.