As the Middle East and North Africa Hub of the Feminist AI Research Project (f<a+r>r Project), the Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) at the School of Business at the American University in Cairo ( AUC) is hosting a workshop titled “Towards A Responsible AI Tool for SMEs” on May 12th 2024 at AUC Tahrir Campus at 10am.

Dr. Marwa Soudi will present a tool she developed together with her  research team at Tallinn University, Estonia, that aims to assist companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in evaluating and adopting responsible artificial intelligence (AI) practices.  The aim is to support SMEs in evaluating their AI systems from a responsible AI perspective.

The workshop serves as a practical resource that enables SMEs to identify areas of improvement and implement responsible AI practices within their organizations. The workshop will be held on May 12th at AUC Tahrir Campus from 10:00 am – 2:00pm.

Further information about the workshop:

The research team from Tallinn University, school of digital technologies,  conducted a comprehensive review to identify the specific needs of SMEs in adopting responsible AI practices. The review highlighted a lack of assessment and educational tools tailored to SMEs, as well as the importance of involving SMEs in discussions and designs related to responsible AI.

To address these findings, the research team employed a participatory design approach to develop a tool that supports SMEs in their responsible AI adoption journey. The tool is built upon the framework provided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for responsible AI adoption, as well as the guidelines outlined in the European Union’s AI Act.

By incorporating the OECD framework and the EU AI Act guidelines, the developed tool provides SMEs with a structured and comprehensive approach to assessing their AI adoption practices in terms of responsibility. This includes evaluating aspects such as transparency, fairness, bias, the environmental impact and ethical considerations in AI systems.