2023 The Responsible AI Forum

After two years online, The Responsible AI Forum (TRAIF) was held in person from September 13th to September 15th, 2023. This event brought experts from diverse fields within academia, government, civil society, and industry together to discuss the development of AI-based technologies within an ethical, sustainable, inclusive, and comprehensive framework that delivers world benefit. Over the course of three days, attendees delved into the multifaceted topic of AI ethics, exploring its implications in various domains to shed light on the paramount issues shaping the ethical deployment of AI in fields from healthcare and governance to business and sustainability.

The opening day began with a warm welcome with keynote addresses by Christoph Lütge and Jacob Rendtorff. Following this, an impulse session titled “Global Perspectives on AI Ethics” engaged a panel including Christoph Lütge, Tanya de Villiers-Botha, Caitlin Corrigan, Christian Perrone, and Makoto Usami in a discussion about the global ethical implications of AI with examples from South Africa, Brazil and Japan. The afternoon contained two sets of parallel sessions that delved into AI’s ethical challenges within Governance and Rule of Law, Healthcare and AI, AI implications of Human Interaction, Responsible AI in Business, and Ethical considerations within smart cities and transportation. It is worth noting that in the Panel Discussion titled “Implementing AI Governance Part 1: Certification and Standardization”, we had the pleasure of hosting Philippe Coution, Daniel Weimer, Sabine Wiesmüller, and Till Klein for a lively discussion with the audience, where they shared their insights and expertise. The first day was then concluded with a welcome reception at the TUM Think Tank, providing attendees with further networking and discussion opportunities.

The second day of TRAIF 2023 began with a thought-provoking panel discussion on the regulation of implementing AI governance with Daniela Brönstrup, Christoph Lütge, Mrinalini Kochupillai, and Thomas Stadje. The rest of the day was comprised of four sets of parallel sessions on AI Ethics in the financial industry, healthcare, large language models, Interactional AI and sustainable AI in Africa among others. Workshops with IEAI, ITS Rio and TÜV SÜD were also held in order to demonstrate approaches and topics used in those organizations.

The final day began with parallel sessions focusing on the responsible use of AI in Africa, AI accountability, and responsible AI for personal integrity within business. The event culminated in a closing session titled “What is Next for Responsible AI?”, featuring Gjergji Kasneci, Patrick van der Samgt, Sarah Engel, and Caitlin Corrigan. In this session, which used a participatory “fishbowl-style” approach, the future direction and challenges of actually implementing responsible AI were discussed.

TRAIF 2023 in numbers

A diverse group of both local and international participants came together for the event, with 52 individuals hailing from Germany and 72 traveling in from various parts of the world. This mixture made for inspiring discussion and also highlights the universal interest in fostering responsible AI practices and the importance of Munich as a hub for this debate.

The IEAI Team wants to extend their gratitude to all the panelists and attendees at the TRAIF 2023 event. We also want to thank all the IEAI staff who put in incredible efforts over the last months to make this a successful event. We are looking forward to continuing the discussion on AI Ethics and how research findings and experience can be utilized in the future with all of you.

Read IEAI team member impressions of the 2023 TRAIF event below: