Maximizing AI reliability through anticipatory thinking and model risk audits

AI is transforming the way we live and work, with the potential to improve our lives in many ways. However, there are risks associated with AI deployments including failures of model robustness and security, explainability and interpretability, bias and fairness, and privacy and ethics. While there are international efforts to define governance standards for responsible AI, these are currently only principles‐based, leaving organizations uncertain as to how they can prepare for emerging regulations or evaluate their effectiveness. We propose the use of anticipatory thinking and a flexible model risk audit (MRA) framework to bridge this gap and enable organizations to take an advantage of the benefits of responsible AI. This approach enables organizations to characterize risk at the model level and to apply the anticipatory thinking employed by high reliability organizations to achieve responsible AI deployments.