The development and use of AI systems often require large amounts of data, including personal and non-personal data. As such, this creates potential risks to the legal and ethical use of data as well as to fundamental rights, including the right to equality, the prohibition of discrimination and the right to privacy. By spreading skills in AI ethics among AI practitioners, risks associated with the abuse of AI technologies can be mitigated from the stage of development.

DSCI, in collaboration with the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), Digital India Foundation, and Koan Advisory Group, launched a handbook on Data Protection and Privacy for Developers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India to assist developers in building AI solutions that take into account ethical and privacy considerations. Drawing inspiration from globally recognised ethical principles, the Handbook aims to guide those in the AI ecosystem with a foundational understanding of AI/ML processes, such as startups. Furthermore, based on the principles and processes highlighted in the Handbook mentioned above, an e-learning course has also been developed to encourage developers working with Artificial Intelligence to not just look at the technical aspects of AI but also factor in the social impact of the products and services created by them.

In this, AI developers and AI practitioners will learn about the importance of ethics in AI, the different stages in which developers can intervene from an ethical point of view and the ethical principles that relate to AI like Transparency, Accountability, Fairness, Security, Mitigating Bias and Privacy to name a few.

The course is available on GIZ's e-learning platform Atingi, and interested participants could enrol for personal development or redistribution under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.