REGIONAL ROUND-UP
AFRICA APAC EUROPE MIDDLE EAST NORTH AMERICA
SIXTY-SIX PERCENT OF AUSTRALIAN ORGANISATIONS SUFFER FROM DATA BIAS ACCORDING TO PROGRESS RESEARCH STUDY
Progress , a trusted provider of application development and infrastructure software , has announced the results of its global survey , Data Bias : The Hidden Risk of AI . Conducted by independent research firm , Insight Avenue , the Progress survey is based on interviews with more than 640 business and IT professionals , director level and above ( including 200 across APAC and Australia ), who use data to make decisions and are using or plan to use Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) and Machine Learning ( ML ) to support their decision-making .
Biases are often inherited by cultural and personal experiences . When data is collected and used in the training of ML models , the models inherit the bias of the people building them , producing unexpected and potentially harmful outcomes . Yet , despite the potential legal and financial pitfalls associated with data bias , there is a lack of understanding around the training , processes and technology needed to tackle data bias successfully .
The survey findings also show :
• 62 % of Australian organisations anticipate becoming more reliant on AI / ML decision-making in the coming years
• 66 % believe there is currently data bias in their organisation
• 84 % believe they need to be doing more to understand and address data bias in their organisation , higher than any other country surveyed
• Among the top five causes that Australian respondents consider being the main barriers to addressing potential data bias in their organisation are :
• Lack of awareness and understanding of potential biases ( 62 %)
• Lack of understanding of how to best identify data bias ( 50 %)
• Lack of understanding of how to best avoid or address data bias ( 48 %)
• Lack of ownership / responsibility ( 42 %)
• Lack of tools for identifying and mitigating data bias ( 34 %)
“ Every day bias can negatively impact business operations and decision-making – from governance and lost customer trust to financial implications and potential legal and ethical exposure ,” said John Ainsworth , EVP and General Manager , Application and Data Platform , Progress .
“ We put our customers at the centre of everything we do and as we explore all that AI / ML can do , we want to ensure our customers are armed with the right information to make the best decisions to drive their business forward .”
Commissioned by Progress , the survey , Data Bias : The Hidden Risk of AI , was conducted by Insight Avenue , a UK-based research firm , specialising in business-tobusiness technology research .
Results are based on interviews with business and IT professionals located across the Americas , Europe and Asia , focused on the use of data in decision-making . x
The Progress survey indicated that 86 % of Australian business and IT decisionmakers believe data bias will become a bigger concern as AI / ML use increases ( higher than the 78 % respondents globally ), yet over a third ( 34 %) have not looked at technology and tools to help in tackling data bias . The biggest barriers they see are lack of awareness of potential biases , understanding how to identify bias as well as the lack of available expert resources , such as having access to data scientists .
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