COMMENT May 2022 Automation Cover 225x275mm.pdf 1 23/05/2022 12:00:20 Automation Smarter solutions for industrial efficiency
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n my last month’s comment, I wrote about the potential dangers of ML and AI-type systems running industrial machines and processes, if left to their own devices, unsupervised and unchecked by humans. Since then, an announcement was made by a team of computer scientists from University of York that has developed a set of guidelines to make machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) for autonomous technologies safe – read more about this on page 6.
As robots, delivery drones, smart factories and driverless cars become pervasive in industry and our everyday lives, current safety regulations for autonomous technologies are seen as a grey area, lacking robust safety nets. With ML and AI, global guidelines for autonomous systems are not as stringent compared to any other high-risk technology. Current standards often lack detail, with some new technologies based around AI and ML arriving to the market unsafe.
Dr Richard Hawkins, Senior Research Fellow at University of York and one of the authors of the new safety guide, calls this approach “haphazard” and “unsafe”:
“The current approach to assuring safety in autonomous technologies is haphazard, with very little guidance or set standards in place. Sectors everywhere struggle to develop new guidelines fast enough to ensure that robotics and autonomous systems are safe for people to use. If the rush to market is the most important consideration when developing a new product, it will only be a matter of time before an unsafe piece of technology causes a serious accident.” Developed by the Assuring Autonomy International Programme (AAIP) at the University of York, the new guidance is called “Assurance of Machine Learning for use in Autonomous Systems”, or AMLAS. The process systematically integrates safety assurance into the development of ML components. AMLAS has already been used in several applications, including transport and healthcare.
I hope this is just a start in the field of ML- and AI-systems safety checks.
Svetlana Josifovska, Editor
Editor Svetlana Josifovska Tel: 01732 883392
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automationmagazine.co.uk Smarter solutions for industrial efficiency
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