Emerging AI Governance is an Opportunity for Business Leaders to Accelerate Innovation and Profitability

Abhishek Gupta is the Senior Responsible AI Leader & Expert with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and also the Founder & Principal Researcher at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute; Risto Uuk is a Policy Researcher at the Future of Life Institute; Richard Mallah is an AI Safety Researcher at Future of Life Institute; and Frances Pye is an Associate at the Boston Consulting Group. Fritzchens Fritz / Better Images of AI / GPU shot etched 1 / CC-BY 4.0 As AI capabilities rapidly advance, especially in generative AI, there is a growing need for systems of governance to ensure we develop AI responsibly in a way that is beneficial for society. Much of the current Responsible AI (RAI) discussion focuses on risk mitigation. Although important, this precautionary narrative overlooks the means through which regulation and governance can promote innovation.  Suppose companies across industries take a proactive approach to corporate governance. In that case, we argue that this could boost innovation (similar to the whitepaper from the UK Government on a pro-innovation approach to AI regulation) and profitability for individual companies as well as for the entire industry that designs, develops, and deploys AI. This can be achieved through a variety of mechanisms we outline below, including increased quality of systems, project viability, a safety race to the top, usage feedback, and increased funding and signaling from governments.  Organizations that recognize this early can not only boost innovation and profitability sooner but also potentially benefit from a first-mover advantage. 1. Impactful…Emerging AI Governance is an Opportunity for Business Leaders to Accelerate Innovation and Profitability