Responsible Research and Innovation

  • Understand the concept of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)
  • Analyze why RRI is important
  • Learn about the RRI principles: Reflect and Anticipate

RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION (RRI)

In this lesson, we’ll dive into how you can make your amazing app ideas even better by thinking about their impact on the world. 

What is Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)?

Have you ever stopped to think about how technology might affect people and the planet in ways we didn’t expect? 

According to Responsible AI UK,  Responsible Research and Innovation means: 

Doing research and innovation in a way that anticipates how it might affect people
and the environment in the future, so we can gain the most benefit and avoid harm.

RRI is all about making sure that as we create new things, we’re doing it in a way that benefits everyone and avoids negative consequences.  RRI helps us use our creative power for good and understand why you are doing what you are doing.

THE AREA FRAMEWORK

Is a simple, practical guide to help you apply RRI principles. It stands for:

Anticipate potential outcomes. What could happen?

Reflect on our goals and methods. Why are we doing this?

Engage with different people and communities. Who should be involved?

Act on what we learn. What should we do?

Source: “RRI Toolkit”, RAI Uk

In this lesson, we’ll focus on the first two: Anticipate and Reflect.

ANTICIPATE: THINKING AHEAD

This is  about using your imagination to think about the future.  Maybe your app could accidentally share too much personal information, or maybe it could create a digital divide where some people can use it and others can’t.

Anticipating helps you spot potential problems early, so you can fix them before they happen. It’s like looking at a map before you start a long trip. It means you imagine everything that could possibly happen with your app. 

Anticipating means you’re prepared for the unexpected.

STOP AND DISCUSS:

In relation to your app idea:

What could go wrong?

What if someone uses it in a way you never thought of?

Or what if a problem pops up later?

girls discussing

REFLECT: LOOKING INWARD

Reflection is about looking at your own motivations and choices to have a clear sense of why you’re doing what you’re doing. It’s a chance to check in with yourself and your team. This helps ensure your project stays true to its original purpose and values and keeps you on the right track. 

Just like your app will change as you add new features, your ideas might change, too. You should keep reflecting throughout the whole project to make sure every choice you make is still leading you in a good direction.

LET'S SEE AN EXAMPLE

1. Imagine an AI app that helps doctors diagnose diseases.
This is a very positive use of AI! But what if the data used to train the AI mostly came from one group of people (like adults from a specific country)? The AI might not work as well for other groups of people, leading to inaccurate diagnoses.
2. Anticipate and Reflect
The developers must anticipate and realize that training their systems with data from only one area or group can lead to unfair results (bias).

After reflecting on their values and purpose, they actively collect diverse data from many different countries and communities. This ensures the AI is accurate for everyone, helps stop health differences from getting worse, and builds trust with communities that haven't been fairly represented in the past.
3. Developers should ask themselves:
  • What if the AI makes a mistake?
  • How will doctors know the AI's confidence level in its diagnosis?
Asking these questions could and should lead to exploring different approaches, creating new features, and using more inclusive datasets.

STOP AND DISCUSS

In this scenario, can you think of any other questions the developers should ask themselves?

girls discussing

To get a better sense of the importance of being a responsible innovator, take a look at this video.

ACTIVITY: ANTICIPATE AND REFLECT

Estimated time: 30 minutes

Now it's time to apply what you've learned to your own project idea!

Use the following questions as a guide to brainstorm with your team. Remember to be honest with yourselves. This is a chance to make sure your project is something you can be truly proud of, not just because it works, but because it does good in the world!
Download worksheet

REFLECTION

You’ve just learned about two important tools for building not just cool apps, but responsible apps: Anticipating and Reflecting.

mountain reflection
What's one thing you might need to change or add to your project right now based on your "Anticipate" answers?
How has thinking about RRI changed the way you view the apps you use every day (like social media or games)?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

  • To go deeper into anticipation and reflection, check out the materials created by the University of Nottingham in collaboration with the Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub.
  • Learn more about equal access and algoritmic bias in AI in this video from Code.org
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