Silicon Valley: AI Impact Assessment presented at Apple, Facebook and Stanford University

AIRecht presents ECP AIIA in Silicon Valley

On 23 August 2019, Mauritz Kop LL.M. had the honour to present the ECP AI Impact Assessment to front-running companies in Silicon Valley, in the amazing San Francisco Bay Area. AI should be a force for good and our Dutch risk-management tool can help with that. The AIIA is a first-of-its-kind guide for the development and implementation of artificial intelligence and includes 2 things: a practical Checklist from a legal, technical and ethical point of view (in line with the EU Trustworthy AI paradigm) and a concrete Code of Conduct for data scientists. On top of that, our AIRecht managing partner introduced the AIIA at Stanford University, in beautiful Palo Alto.

Silicon Valley: AI Impact Assessment presented at Apple, Facebook and Stanford University, by AIRecht managing partner Mauritz Kop.

Stanford University Campus

Stanford University has a stunning campus. It offers exuberant nature, nice temperature and magnificent architecture. Innovation is in the air. During the graduation ceremony of a post-doctoral intellectual property course at Stanford Law School, Mauritz officially handed over an English hardcopy of the ECP AI Impact Assessment to Professor Roland Vogl and Professor Siegfried Fina, Program Directors at SLS. The Program focusses on Overview on U.S. IP Law with specific attention to high-tech IP issues, such as copyrights, trade secrets, patents, trademarks, licensing and venture capital. Stanford University is a wonderful place for learning, discovery, innovation, expression and discourse, at the highest academic level imaginable.

Innovation is in the Air. Stanford University Campus offers exuberant nature, nice temperature and magnificent architecture.

Apple

Apple is a multinational technology company, best known for its iPhone, Mac, Logic Pro and Apple Pay products. During a visit to Apple in San Francisco the ECP AI Impact Assessment was presented to Jeff Myers, Chief IP Counsel at Apple. Jeff is a really cool guy and leads a highly talented team of legal specialists who deal with all sorts of intellectual property challenges on a global scale, such as strategic IP litigation, patent licensing, protecting brand names and managing counterfeiting. We noticed that the Apple Legal Team lawyers each have a strong technology interest and aptitude, possess JD or equivalent, excellent academic credentials (dual degrees) and often have interdisciplinary education. It was a real pleasure meeting them!

Apple is a multinational technology company, best known for its iPhone, Mac, Logic Pro and Apple Pay products.

Facebook HQ, Menlo Park

We also introduced the AIIA at Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, between Palo Alto and Redwood City in Silicon Valley, which is located in the bigger Santa Clara Valley. Facebook is the world’s biggest online social media and social networking service company. Facebook’s team of legal counsels responded enthusiastically and told us they could use some European ethical values (we share the same Humanist and 1789 French Revolution ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ moral values) in their continuous search for Responsible Tech. The legal team showed us in detail how Facebook is constantly working on improving their platform, to deal with challenges such as fake news and copyright infringement. Latest artificial intelligence related challenges for online mega platforms such as Facebook concern doctored videos that contain apparently real footage of people, often celebrities or politicians such as Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama.

The AI Impact Assessment can be used to assess if Facebook’s deepfake video detection technology is legal, ethical and technically robust.

Deepfake videos

Convincing deepfake videos can be very harmful, if executed well. We discussed balancing conflicting public and private interests such as censoring these AI fabricated fake photorealistic videos (including audio and voice synthesis) and images versus user/uploader privacy and freedom of expression. Of course you’ll first need the AI-tech to catch these full body deepfakes quickly and efficiently, preferably without false positives. The AI Impact Assessment can be used to assess if Facebook’s deepfake video detection technology is legal, ethical and technically robust. Facebooks race against deepfakes: battling AI with AI for Good.

Building Transatlantic Bridges.

AI Governance should be human centred

AI governance should be as much human centred as possible. It should be socially inclusive and respect fundamental rights and freedoms as enshrined in the European Union Charter and the Constitution of the United States of America. Innovation policy should recognize the social value of transformative technology such as AI, big data, cognitive and quantum computing and resist protecting settled market players who benefit from the status quo. Intellectual property law should never create barriers for new market entrants. In addition, best practices and self-governance tools such as the AIIA play an important role in balancing the societal impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution technology.

AI Governance should be human centred.

Transatlantic bridges

It was an incredibly inspiring visit to Silicon Valley. We have seen it with our own eyes now: the Bay Area truly is the innovation hub of the world, together with Massachusetts (Boston, Harvard, MIT). It offers excellent opportunities for tech start-ups to work together and brainstorm with the best qualified experts, and create partnerships with professionals in myriad industrial sectors and disciplines.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Mauritz Kop confer on exporting European ethical values to the USA via the Dutch AI Impact Assessment (ECP), and reflect on AI becoming Chefsache at MIT and the Museum of Fine Arts & Koch Gallery Boston.

Innovation optimum

With parallel disruptive tech agendas and capacity, we hope to be back soon to further strengthen EU-USA relationships, construct new partnerships, exchange talent and remove barriers to trade and collaboration across the Atlantic. To exchange ideas on how the law ought to be redesigned to stimulate and regulate creative expression in our current era. To discuss why certain sectors (Healthcare) need to be incentivised through IP legislation more than others (Entertainment & Art). To mirror principles from the continental European IP tradition to those of the American tradition whilst searching for that innovation optimum. To learn from each other and build transatlantic bridges.

Stanford University is a wonderful place for learning, discovery, innovation, expression and discourse, at the highest academic level imaginable.