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WORKING DRAFT FOR PUBLIC FEEDBACK For more context on this draft, please see here. Please submit feedback here.
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Previous: About the Task Force
This guidance is organized around the specific and unique circumstances related to AI developers broadly (e.g., engineers, data scientists, product managers, or other related practitioners that contribute to the development of AI-driven technology) working in commercial, corporate, or other profit-driven settings and how they can work with stakeholders from socially marginalized identities and communities more equitably and ethically. While everyone can benefit from guidance on navigating stakeholder engagement processes, this resource is specifically designed to address the challenges and opportunities facing those developing AI technologies in the commercial / corporate sector. We chose to focus on this specific sector, because we wanted to attend to the unique power dynamics - historic and current - and the different incentives that shape the kind of stakeholder engagement that can take place between corporate actors and community stakeholders.
AI-developing companies are not the only key decision-makers in the development and deployment of AI technologies. There are commercial/corporate entities and public sector government agencies that also adopt and deploy AI technologies at a scale that impacts thousands and millions of lives. Civil society or other not-for-profit entities, aligned with organizational missions to serve and benefit society, also seek to work with different communities on technology development and deployment projects. While these - not to mention the people who are impacted in some form or another by the development and deployment of technology - are all important actors, the circumstances under which they are developing technology and engaging with stakeholders are different (with different incentives and risks) and require their own specific guidance and recommendation. These audiences may find it useful to read and adapt these guidelines to their own situations. However, future iterations of guidelines will need to be developed to provide the necessary attention to the unique circumstances of those different audiences. One way such actors can support inclusive AI development is by offering guidance along the lines suggested in this document as part of the procurement process, which has a sizable influence on the software and AI development process.
Private sector, profit-driven organizations are the site of much of the technological innovation taking place, without the kind of consistent incentives or guardrails in place to work with transparency and accountability towards the general public, as might a mission-driven not-for-profit organization or a public entity, like a government agency. The incentives and risks for integrating more external stakeholder engagement in the work of private -sector AI companies and organizations are different from those for public -sector organizations, like not-for-profit organizations or government agencies. For example, competing in open markets means that private -sector companies and organizations are trying to both build good systems and products and as quickly as possible to beat their competitors to market.
These challenges also present a worthwhile opportunity: Shifting practice amongst private sector practitioners may help catalyze shifts in how the whole field of AI development approaches stakeholder engagement.
The Task Force is unique in that it is a multi-sector body, with people with civil society, academic, and industry experiences and current roles. We are able to speak to the conditions under which corporate sector AI practitioners are attempting to integrate more stakeholder engagement practices into their work and specify guidance related to those specific circumstances, while maintaining strong alignment with the underlying values promoted by advocates of greater public participation and stakeholder engagement.