October 2, 2020

Francis AI Technologies, Inc. (“Francis AI”), a leading smart city solutions provider, today announced that they have officially established the AI Ethics Board to ensure responsible product development.

Chris Carson, Co-Founder & CEO of Francis AI, said of the development, “Francis AI is leading the way in developing AI-powered smart city technologies, and we have a moral obligation to implement these technologies with accountability, responsibility, and transparency. We intend to uphold this obligation and have assembled the Francis AI Ethics Board for unbiased expert assistance.”

The charter of the board is to provide Francis AI with guidance on the responsible development of its smart city technologies, paying attention to its impact on communities with an emphasis on security and privacy issues.

“The rapid advancement of AI has influenced us to reassess our impact in the most integral and accountable way, which has led us to revamp our mission and message through the assemblage of the ethics board. This complements our company’s commitment to using AI technologies responsibly,” Carson added.

With a unified set of operating principles outlining how the company’s team and ethics board will work together, this collaboration signifies the company’s commitment to transparency and information sharing, ensuring that all information required to provide constructive input is made readily available.

Ethics Board Lead, Ansgar Koene, said, “We understand the ethical concerns of AI and are committed to assisting Francis AI with applying the technology transparently and responsibly. This external advisory board is comprised of members with expertise in AI, computer science, privacy, law enforcement, civil liberties, and public policy. We believe that our assistance to the company will be invaluable.”

Francis AI publicly noted that their operating principles may evolve over time as technologies and awareness levels change, in which case they would revise their principles and publicly provide explanations for any such changes.

To hold accountable to the Ethics Board operating principles, AI Ethics Board Lead, Ansgar Koene, is outside Francis AI’s chain of command and is available for anyone inside or outside the company to raise and address their concerns: ethics@Francis.ai

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