The UK government has called for a review on the risks of algorithms, urging regulatory watchdogs to assess the current landscape through the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF).
The DRCF stated that with algorithms using machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI), bias and discrimination can take over leading to the reinforcement of inequalities and to consumers being misled.
Gill Whitehead, chief executive of the DRCF, warned in a statement of the risk posed by algorithms: “They can be manipulated to cause harm or misused because firms plugging into websites and apps simply don’t understand them well enough. As regulators, we need to make sure the benefits win out.”
The four digital watchdogs, the Financial Conduct Authority, Information Commissioner’s Office, Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority, have been urged to work together through the DRCF to identify the key areas in need of regulation.
Sridhar Iyengar, MD for SaaS provider Zoho Europe, said in a statement: “AI-enabled algorithms can play a huge role in business and their usage is only set to soar…However, as much as algorithms need to be more heavily regulated, so does the data that feeds them.”