Two-thirds of Australian organisations struggle with data bias – survey

Two-thirds of Australian organisations struggle with data bias – survey | Insurance Business Australia

Technology

Two-thirds of Australian organisations struggle with data bias – survey

Survey also underscores hidden risk associated with AI and machine learning

Technology

By
Mika Pangilinan

Two-thirds of Australian organisations suffer from data bias, according to a survey from Progress, an application development and infrastructure software provider.

The study, which surveyed more than 640 business and IT professionals across the globe, including 200 in the Asia-Pacific region and Australia, revealed that although most businesses are aware of the importance of mitigating data bias, they are unsure how to tackle it effectively.

Data bias can be inherited from cultural and personal experiences, the study noted. When data is collected and used to train machine learning models, these models may inherit the biases of the people building them, resulting in unexpected and potentially harmful outcomes.

Despite the potential legal and financial pitfalls associated with data bias, the study found a lack of understanding around the training, processes, and technology needed to address it successfully.

The survey indicated that 66% of Australian organisations believe there is currently data bias in their organisation, while 86% of business and IT decision-makers believe data bias will become a bigger concern as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) use increases. Even then, there was still a portion of respondents (34%) who said that they have not looked at technology and tools to help them tackle data bias.

With this, respondents identified the following as the biggest barriers to addressing potential data bias in their organizations:

lack of awareness and understanding of potential biases (62%)
lack of understanding of how to best identify data bias (50%)
lack of understanding of how to best avoid or address data bias (48%)
lack of ownership/responsibility (42%)
lack of tools for identifying and mitigating data bias (34%)

The survey also showed that 62% of Australian organisations anticipate becoming more reliant on AI/ML decision making in the coming years. Moreover, 84% believe they need to do more to understand and address data bias in their organisations.

“Every day, bias can negatively impact business operations and decision making – from governance and lost customer trust to financial implications and potential legal and ethical exposure,” said John Ainsworth, Progress EVP and general manager, application and data platform. “We put our customers at the centre of everything we do and as we explore all that AI/ML can do, we want to ensure our customers are armed with the right information to make the best decisions to drive their business forward.”

The survey, called “Data Bias: The Hidden Risk of AI,” was conducted by UK-based research firm Insight Avenue. Results are based on interviews with business and IT professionals from organisations with over 500 employees who use data to make decisions and are using or planning to use AI/ML to support their decision-making processes.

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