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Putting principles into practice at Microsoft

We are committed to making sure AI systems are developed responsibly and in ways that warrant people’s trust.

Building a responsible future Our blueprint for governing AI

Microsoft responsible AI principles

Fairness

AI systems should treat all people fairly

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Reliability & Safety

AI systems should perform reliably and safely

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Privacy & Security

AI systems should be secure and respect privacy

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Inclusiveness

AI systems should empower everyone and engage people

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Transparency

AI systems should be understandable

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Accountability

People should be accountable for AI systems

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Operationalizing responsible AI

We are operationalizing responsible AI across Microsoft through a central effort led by the Aether Committee, the Office of Responsible AI (ORA) and Responsible AI Strategy in Engineering (RAISE). Together, Aether, ORA, and RAISE work closely with our teams to uphold Microsoft’s responsible AI principles in their day-to-day work.

Governance Team enablement Sensitive use cases Public policy

Governance

Setting the company-wide rules for enacting responsible AI, as well as defining roles and responsibilities for teams involved in this effort.

Overview Charter Members Working groups

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Overview

Aether was established at Microsoft in 2017. Our senior leadership relies on Aether to make recommendations on responsible AI issues, technologies, processes, and best practices. Its working groups undertake research and development, and provide advice on rising questions, challenges, and opportunities.

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Charter

Aether’s scope spans across Microsoft. When questions arise within divisions, the committee responds with studies, reflection, and recommendations. Recommendations on specific cases may then evolve into general Microsoft policies, practices, and considerations.

Members

Aether members include experts in key areas of responsible AI, engineering leadership, and representatives nominated by leaders from major divisions. In addition to standing working groups, Aether draws on the broader community and experts outside the company to deliver fast-action studies.

Working groups

Aether organizes working groups focused on issues, analysis, and development in the following areas: Fairness and Inclusiveness, Human-AI Interaction and Collaboration, Transparency, Reliability and Safety, Security, and Privacy.

Building responsible AI tooling & systems Engineering practices Compliance mechanisms

Building responsible AI tooling & systems

RAISE defines and executes the tooling and system strategy for responsible AI across engineering teams. They are developing One Engineering System (1ES)—a set of tools and systems built on Azure ML that will help customers adopt responsible AI practices and internal engineering groups implement Microsoft companywide rules for responsible AI.

Learn about 1ES at Microsoft

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Engineering practices

RAISE partners with Aether and ORA to identify, develop, and implement engineering practices that help integrate responsible AI requirements into everyday work. It coordinates the planning roadmap and approach to implementation for the Microsoft responsible AI platform and requirements across engineering groups.

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Compliance mechanisms

RAISE implements compliance tooling for engineering teams to monitor and enforce Microsoft responsible AI rules and requirements. It also operates feedback mechanisms, identifying blockers to integrating responsible AI requirements into everyday development processes.