AI is a good servant but a bad master

At Youpret, our principle for all AI use is that no AI application is allowed to operate entirely autonomously. Our experts are always responsible for supervising these systems and intervening if necessary.

Doesn’t such an approach require more working hours from AI developers? Isn’t the purpose of using AI to automate processes so that time can be spent more effectively? The answer to both questions is yes. However, this does not mean we can leave everything entirely to machines.

Supervision ensures a safe and seamless user experience. From the user's perspective, supervised AI also reduces the time and effort required for various processes.

Responsibility as the guiding principle

At Youpret, we strive to act responsibly in all our activities, including the use of advanced AI tools. Supervision is one of the most critical aspects of responsible AI use, so naturally we are committed to investing in it, too.

Read more about responsible use of AI at Youpret

The supervision of AI systems is not just our personal principle. For example, the European Commission considers it one of the seven key areas of responsible AI, which ensure that AI tools are functional, efficient, and most importantly safe.

Why is AI supervision important?

Current AI tools are not flawless. They lack the ability to make complex decisions, understand ethics as humans do, or express empathy. They are also susceptible to biases.

Since the purpose of AI is to enhance the capabilities of its users and in a broader sense the entire society’s, supervision is necessary to prevent shortcomings in AI functionality from causing harm. Eliminating potential harms is just as important as reaping the benefits, as these harms can be quite tangible. They may affect the accuracy of AI’s suggestions and decisions, user privacy, and equality. Below are examples of situations where unsupervised AI use has caused problems.

Analytics

One of AI’s strengths is analyzing large datasets and making predictions based on the analysis. For instance, an AI application can review a company's sales data from the past five years, analyze it, propose seasonal production levels for specific products, and predict future sales.

Analytics tools often rely on machine learning, which observes the applications operation and adjusts its functionality based on what it learns. Without supervision, however, it’s impossible to know how the AI is evolving. Over time, the AI can learn undesirable patterns, reducing the accuracy of its predictions and conclusions for specific contexts.

The findings of the company sales data AI analysis can be presented to the employees using natural language processing (NLP) models, which are adept at creating convincing outputs based on input data. These tools can make even incorrect information seem reliable. Because of this, an unsupervised AI analytics tool may appear to function correctly on the surface, even if reality was quite different.

Social media

All social media platforms are powered by AI-based algorithms that, for example, tailor content recommendations based on user behavior.

However, some cases have shown that AI can profile users based on private information, even without their consent. For instance, an algorithm might deduce a user’s political stance from their likes or the time spent on specific pages.

This demonstrates that AI tools are not particularly skilled at assessing the ethics of their operations. Therefore, humans must remain responsible for evaluating, maintaining, and developing ethical standards for Ai.

HR and recruitment

In HR, AI can be used for tasks such as efficiently screening large numbers of job applications. AI is often utilized to analyze applications based on criteria relevant to the job and to suggest suitable candidates for interviews.

Problems arise when the data fed to AI allows it to learn incorrectly. The model can learn to focus on non-essential criteria. For example, if the data reveals that in the past people of a particular ethnic background have been hired for similar roles, the AI might begin favoring candidates with the same background, regardless of their qualifications.

Such situations highlight the importance of preprocessing the data provided to AI. Current AI applications cannot reliably determine which data is relevant for a given task, so humans must take responsibility for this. In recruitment, for instance, only anonymized applications should be provided to AI to eliminate the risk of discrimination.

Supervision enables effective AI use

The above examples of unsupervised AI causing harm illustrate situations where problems can easily arise. Correspondingly, there are also applications where problems aren’t as probable. However, even in cases where potential harms are less severe, AI tools cannot reach their full potential without supervision. Supervision ensures that applications are developed appropriately and strategically.

As a conclusion, without supervision, AI tools cannot fully serve their intended purposes. Human potential will not be enhanced as much as possible, and AI's potential harms cannot be eliminated. Therefore, it is justified that not all processes should be fully automated, as supervised tools provide users with greater benefits relative to the required labor hours than autonomous AI systems.

AI use at Youpret

We aim to develop AI tools that save time by handling repetitive, simple tasks. By leveraging AI, we enable our staff to focus on tasks that machines cannot perform.

Some of our systems are already highly automated and rely on advanced technology. For instance, the Youpret App, which represents industry-leading technology, makes ordering an interpreter remarkably easy. Thanks to the app, customers only need to place an order, and our system automatically handles everything from interpreter selection to invoicing.

The Youpret App is developed in-house, allowing us to ensure its excellent operation. Additionally, while orders are processed smoothly through automation, we have a skilled customer service team ready to respond quickly to any issues.

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