The Benefits of IEEE CertifAIEd™ Training

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used in an increasing variety of products and systems today, including online shopping, recommendation engines, translation services, and customer service. The rapid advancement of AI, particularly around the use of Large Language Models that produce Generative AI content, has sparked global concern among policy makers, regulators, product manufacturers, and end users worried about the potential for harmful or unethical use of these powerful technologies. Many users are not aware that these technologies implement AI capabilities, and there have been concrete instances where the use of AI has spawned unintended and harmful ethical impacts.

Regulatory initiatives are underway across the globe to help maximize the positive outcomes for humans using AI, and to minimize potential harmful, dangerous, or unethical outcomes. In 2022, China entered into effect its Regulations on the Administration of Internet Information Service Recommendation Algorithms, a sweeping effort to regulate the use of AI. In October 2023, U.S. President Biden issued an Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of AI. And in March 2024, the European Union’s Parliament passed the EU AI Act, a major set of regulatory ground rules for AI.

Beyond the key idea that the unethical use of any technology is wrong, there are also potential financial impacts to companies deploying AI systems that have not been developed with appropriate ethical considerations in mind, including reputational damage, risk of losing customers and market share, and potential regulatory penalties.

Recognizing this trend, IEEE undertook a variety of initiatives to address the socio-technical aspects of AI with a focus on developing specific frameworks, requirements, and programs to drive the ethical and human centered use of AI. Specific IEEE SA initiatives include:

• IEEE Ethically Aligned Design Documents
• IEEE 7000™ standards portfolio
• IEEE CertifAIEd Assessor Program

The IEEE CertifAIEd Assessor Training program, and the broader IEEE program around AI Ethics (which has been underway since 2015) is intended to help a wide range of industry stakeholders develop knowledge and methodologies for the ethical, and human values-based design and implementations of systems and products with embedded AI capabilities.

The IEEE CertifAIEd program allows for products to be scrutinized and for organizations to demonstrate their commitment and successful adoption of ethical AI practices.  This program helps to address risk concerns with governance early on, those that may potentially lead to product issues and potential damages, both financial and reputational.

The IEEE CertifAIEd Assessor program has three components to the current portfolio.

• IEEE CertifAIEd Assessor Training (discussed here)
• IEEE CertifAIEd Assessment Collaborator Program
• IEEE CertifAIEd Certification Partner Program

IEEE CertifAIEd Assessor Training offers the ability to scale responsible innovation implementations by helping participants to understand and learn how to apply the IEEE CertifAIEd criteria and methodology for evaluating the ethicality of an AI enabled system. This training helps increase the quality of AI systems and the associated trust with key stakeholders and to realize associated benefits of ethically designed Autonomous Intelligent Systems (AIS). Understanding the IEEE CertifAIEd framework and methodology enables participants to think critically about ethical AI; participants who successfully complete the training can continue on to become IEEE CertifAIEd Authorized Assessors with recognized IEEE credentials and badges.

The objectives for the IEEE CertifAIEd Assessor Training are:

• Understanding the need for addressing unintended consequences and potential harm in the development and use of AI-enabled systems, and how trustworthiness in AI is critical for AI adoption
• Understanding the global regulatory efforts to implement trustworthy AIS and how IEEE CertifAIEd’s approach is addressing regulatory and societal needs and risks towards the use of AIS
• Learning how to conduct ethical profiling within the context of a system with embedded AI capabilities to determine a risk profile and scope for an AI assessment (using the IEEE CertifAIEd Criteria Suites for Ethical Privacy, Algorithmic Bias, Ethical Transparency and Ethical Accountability)
• Acquiring in-depth knowledge and understanding about the ethical criteria and methodology that are essential for conformity assessment with respect to IEEE CertifAIEd requirements
• Learning how to assess specific use cases using the IEEE CertifAIEd criteria
• Understanding the required steps to become an IEEE Authorized Assessor (for those interested in becoming IEEE CertifAIEd Authorized Assessors)

As AI systems become increasingly embedded in products and systems, there is an increasing need for people with knowledge of, and methodologies for, assessing the ethical use of AI in these systems, and to help ensure that these products and systems are built with human centric ethical needs in mind.

Examples of job roles benefitting from IEEE CertifAIEd Assessor Training include:

• Product Engineers/Designers of products or systems with embedded or connected AI systems. These professionals will need to consider the ethical aspects of using these AI systems to help ensure that the systems are used in responsible and beneficial ways and to avoid potential ethical or harmful consequences of these products.
• Product Managers will need to be aware of and sensitive to market needs and requirements to help ensure that products for which they are responsible are built with ethical considerations in mind. Failure to do this can result in negative market reaction, inability to achieve product growth objectives, or negative customer reaction.
• Regulators, Lawmakers, and Policymakers who are responsible for developing regulations to guide the safe and ethical use of AI products will benefit from having a structured framework, methodology, and criteria to help develop meaningful policies and regulations.
• Customer Advocates who seek to ensure that products and services are developed in a safe and appropriate manner to avoid harms to customers that may arise from the unethical implementation of AI features.
• Managers of commercial, governmental, or other organizations who will face the increasing need to implement a culture with a focus on the responsible and safe use of AI. This will be important for commercial, reputational, and organizational mission rationale. Note that for this audience a modified version of the IEEE CertifAIEd Training is available and may be more appropriate.
• Consultants who are seeking to assist their clients with the development and deployment of ethical AI systems can benefit from training on IEEE CertifAIEd frameworks, methodologies, tools and criteria. Tailoring and modification of IEEE methodologies and approaches can be customized to meet the needs of specific market verticals or consulting needs.
• Professionals who may want to grow their skills and engage in training around ethical use of AI (e.g., via training institutions) or conducting independent assessments/consultations for products and systems that use AI.
• Academic Researchers and Professors who are studying the various technical, social, and political implications of AI and want or need to have an ethical framework for looking at the impacts of AI technologies. Understanding different frameworks for the ethical use of AI, including the IEEE CertifAIEd framework, can be useful in ethical AI research.
• Individuals who want to learn more about AI and in particular the ethical use of AI for their own professional growth and become part of the global CertifAIEd Community for ongoing learning and advancement of the ethical use of AI.

If you’d like to learn more about this program, including how to get trained and become an IEEE CertifAIEd Authorized Assessor, please visit the CertifAIEd program page.