By Joe McKendrick – Our dependency on AI-based outputs seems to grow every day, both from a business as well as personal perspective. But are we willing to fully trust this output? Are we sure the data fed into these systems is accurate? Are the decision models and algorithms kept up to date? Is it free of bias? Are humans kept in the loop?

The answers to these questions are all still up in the air, according to a recent survey of 7,502 business around the world, commissioned by IBM in partnership with Morning Consult.

AI usage just keeps growing. Right now, 35% of companies use AI in their business — up from 31% a year ago. An additional 42% are exploring AI. There are benefits — such as cost savings and efficiencies (54%), improvements in IT or network performance (53%), and better experiences for customers (48%).

Trust is a priority, but many organizations haven’t taken enough steps to ensure AI is trustworthy, the survey also shows. Eighty-five percent of respondents agree that consumers are more likely to choose a company that’s transparent about how its AI models are built, managed and used. In addition, 84% say that “being able to explain how their AI arrives at different decisions is important to their business.”

Maintaining brand integrity and customer trust is the most important reason to pursue AI trust, cited by 56% of managers. Another 50% say meeting external regulatory and compliance obligations is key, and 48% cite the ability to govern data and AI across the entire lifecycle. Another 48% seek the ability to monitor data and AI across the lifecycle. Read On: