Responsible Use of Technology: The IBM Case Study

The document details IBM's transition toward a structured AI ethics framework, centered on a centralized AI Ethics Board and a set of 'Principles for Trust and Transparency'. It describes the 'pillars of trust'—explainability, fairness, robustness, transparency, and privacy—and the corresponding open-source and proprietary toolkits developed to implement these values. The paper also outlines IBM's internal application of these ethics in HR, its decision to cease general-purpose facial recognition, and its engagement with global policy and academic partnerships.

• IBM established a centralized AI Ethics Board in 2018, which was reorganized in 2019 to be co-chaired by the Chief Privacy Officer and the Global Leader of AI Ethics. The Board has a corporate governance mandate to implement, enable, and enforce decisions across business units, including the decision to stop developing or offering general purpose facial recognition software.
• The company's ethical framework is built on three Principles for Trust and Transparency: that AI should augment rather than replace human intelligence, that data and insights belong to their creator, and that new technology must be transparent and explainable.
• IBM operationalizes its ethics through five 'pillars of trust': explainability, fairness, robustness, transparency, and privacy. To support these, IBM Research developed several open-source toolkits, including AI Explainability 360, AI Fairness 360, Adversarial Robustness 360, AI FactSheets 360, and Uncertainty Quantification 360.
• IBM integrates 'Ethics by Design' into its delivery model, the IBM Garage, using techniques such as empathy mapping and 'what-if' analysis to consider the potential effects of technology on users and communities during the co-creation phase.
• Internally, IBM uses AI in HR for hiring and salary recommendations, maintaining a 'human-in-the-loop' approach where AI provides data points but humans retain decision-making accountability. This approach contributed to an increase in the proportion of under-represented minorities among new hires from 18.9% in 2018 to 21.3% in 2020.
• IBM engages in global policy influence by advocating for 'Precision Regulation'—targeted, risk-based policies for AI rather than one-size-fits-all approaches. This perspective was reflected in the European Commission's proposal for AI regulation.

APA

World Economic Forum (2021). Responsible Use of Technology: The IBM Case Study. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Responsible_Use_of_Technology_The_IBM_Case_Study_2021.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Responsible Use of Technology: The IBM Case Study. 2021. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Responsible_Use_of_Technology_The_IBM_Case_Study_2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Responsible Use of Technology: The IBM Case Study |date=September 2021 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Responsible_Use_of_Technology_The_IBM_Case_Study_2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2021responsible, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Responsible Use of Technology: The IBM Case Study}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Responsible_Use_of_Technology_The_IBM_Case_Study_2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }