Commerce driven AI Compliance
In the movies when detectives are looking for who's really behind a crime they say "follow the money," but in the case of AI compliance, regulation, and risk tolerence things change. The money leads. In this article we take a look at how differring political ideals are no match for the market.
There are very few people who would have bet on AI becoming what it is today, and they would have lost their part of a trillion-dollar payout. The people I've spoken to learned from missing out on Bitcoin at a fraction of a penny because it was seen as “in game currency.” Today Bitcoin is hovering around $90k USD a Bitcoin and has become a serious investment option. Those reluctant to jump on the AI craze have now gotten involved, proving they've learned from the mistakes of BTC.
We knew we wouldn't become overnight masters of neural networks, but we understood their importance. Like all technological boons, AI's hype cycle will lose steam. The irrational, emotional rush to build and deploy AI systems has cost companies multiple millions of dollars. I will not provide examples of that here; a simple web search will get that if you are interested in finding out more details. The focus here is showing how consumers will incite changes in ways that governments force.
Bitcoin may not be directly tied to AI, but the lessons of "move or lose out" have contributed to the explosive development, adoption, and dangers of AI. In a previous article I spoke about how MCP was adopted in just over a year while it took approximately 25 years for the Internet protocol to have the same impact at the general consumer level.
What does this mean for the everyday person?
It means that governments and businesses have learned that the most effective way to limit risk is to act. Please note that compliance and risk tolerance are NOT the same. Risk tolerance is a level of acceptance of known risks while compliance is a series of checks that are implemented and can be audited
Major powers like the US, China, and Europe have quickly created and published frameworks that guide companies to a more secure AI environment. China and Europe even going as far as mandating compliance for any business operating an AI technology, even if they are not headquartered in those countries.
The impact of mandatory compliance means that even voluntary frameworks are being implemented by responsible multi-national corporations. The most interesting question is not "will you implement AI compliance measures?" but "How are you leveraging the Chinese system for tagging AI content, with the American categories for identifying trustworthiness, and the European requirements for human oversight?"
As shown, the US, Chinese, and European frameworks address individual critical concerns. It's easy to state that one over the others is more upfront about the data collection purpose than the others. This is placed here not to start a political discourse, but as a subtle insight to the possibility of Nation States collecting AI interaction and use data. Coupling and even implementing the essence of another country's framework in accordance with your host nation's oversight will strengthen the security of that framework for the end consumer.
I cannot overstate this fact: I am not advocating nor speaking against any country or their policies. My stance is that all self-governing countries do, and should do, what's best for their citizens.
If you are a technology leader unsure of how or where to start on your AI journey, I suggest you start with an open and honest conversation with all your stakeholders. Use this article and the overlapping sections as ground zero. You know your measurable business outcomes and business risk thresholds better than anyone else, and if you don't, the collective minds of your Board of Directors will guide the business to where it needs to be.
Take your time to make how and where you do this a safe and inclusive interaction. Long gone are the days of make a decision today and review a year later. The AI era is moving at 12x the speed of preceding technological eras. Regulation that took 27 years for the internet arrived in just 2.25 years for AI. The only way to stay in the black is to interact with the technology, people, policies, and governments that influence change. Change has become a moving target that you can only hit if you are moving too.