UC adopts recommendations for the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence

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The University of California Presidential Working Group on Artificial Intelligence was launched in 2020 by University of California President Michael V. Drake and former UC President Janet Napolitano to assist UC in determining a set of responsible principles to guide procurement, development, implementation, and monitoring of artificial intelligence (AI) in UC operations. 

To support these goals, the working group developed a set of UC Responsible AI Principles and explored four high-risk application areas: health, human resources, policing, and student experience. The working group has published a final report that explores current and future applications of AI in these areas and provides recommendations for how to operationalize the UC Responsible AI Principles. The report concludes with overarching recommendations to help guide UC’s strategy for determining whether and how to responsibly implement AI in its operations.

Camille Nebeker, Ed.D., associate professor with appointments in the UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and the Design Lab, and two researchers in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Nadia Henninger, Ph.D., associate professor whose work focuses on cryptography and security, and Lawrence Saul, Ph.D., professor whose research interests are machine learning and data analysis, were members of the working group.

“The use of artificial intelligence within the UC campuses cuts across human resources, procurement, policing, student experience and healthcare. We, as an organization, did not have guiding principles to support responsible decision-making around AI,” said Nebeker, who co-founded and directs the Research Center for Optimal Digital Ethics Health at UC San Diego, a multidisciplinary group that conducts research and provides education to support ethical digital health study practices. 

“The UC Presidential Working Group on AI has met over the past year to develop principles to advance responsible practices specific to the selection, implementation and management of AI systems.”

With universities increasingly turning to AI-enabled tools to support greater efficiency and effectiveness, UC is setting an important precedent as one of the first universities, and the largest public university system, to develop governance processes for the responsible use of AI. More info is available on the UC Newsroom.