Put the user at the core, asserts new report from ACCA, as it reveals 51% of practitioners are unaware of explainable AI

Explainable AI (XAI) emphasises not just how algorithms provide an output, but also how they work with the user, and how the output or conclusion is reached. XAI approaches shine a light on the algorithm’s inner workings to show the factors that influenced its output. The idea is for this information to be available in a human-readable way, rather than being hidden within code.

ACCA’s (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) latest report Explainable AI addresses explainability from the perspective of practitioners, i.e. accountancy and finance professionals. Head of Business Insights, Narayanan Vaidyanathan, said: ‘It is in the public interest to improve understanding of XAI, which helps to balance the protection of the consumer with innovation in the marketplace.’

Complexity, speed and volume of AI decision-making often obscure what is going on in the background (the black box), which makes the model difficult to interrogate. Explainability, or the lack of this, affects the ability of professional accountants to understand and display scepticism.  In a recent ACCA survey, more than double, 54%, agreed with this statement compared to those who didn’t.

Vaidyanathan continued: ‘It’s an area that’s relevant to being able to trust technology and to be confident that it’s used ethically and XAI can help in this scenario.  It’s helpful to think of it as a design principle as much as a set of tools.  Moreover, this is AI decoded, and designed to augment the human ability to understand and interrogate the results returned by the model.’

Key messages for practitioners:

• Maintain awareness of evolving trends in AI: 51% of respondents were unaware of XAI. This impairs the ability to engage. The report sets out some of the key developments in this emerging area to help raise awareness.
• Beware of oversimplified narratives: In accountancy, AI isn’t fully autonomous, but nor is it a complete fantasy. The middle path of augmenting, as opposed to replacing, the human works best when the human understands what the AI is doing; which needs explainability.
• Embed explainability into enterprise adoption: Consider the level of explainability needed, and how it can help with model performance, ethical use and legal compliance.

Policy makers, for instance in government or at regulators, frequently hear the developer/supplier perspective from the AI industry. This report can complement that with a view from the user/demand side, so that policy can incorporate consumer needs.

The report’s key messages for policy makers are:

• Explainability empowers consumers and regulators: improved explainability reduces the deep asymmetry between experts who understand AI and the wider public. And for regulators, it can help reduce systemic risk if there is a better understanding of factors influencing algorithms that are being increasingly deployed across the marketplace.
• Emphasise explainability as a design principle: An environment that balances innovation and regulation can be achieved by supporting industry to continue, indeed redouble, its efforts to include explainability as a core feature in product development.

Narayanan Vaidyanathan added: ‘XAI can be polarising, with some having unrealistic expectations for it to be like magic and answer all questions. While others are deeply suspicious of what the algorithm is doing in the background. XAI seeks to bridge this gap, by improving understanding to manage unrealistic expectations, and to give a level of comfort and clarity to the doubters.’

Islamabad: 13th February, 2020 – As Pakistan and Turkey are fostering deeper socio-economic ties as brotherly Islamic nations, the largest Turkish enterprise Koç Holding has expressed its commitment to further expand its heavy investments and operations in Pakistan.

The Chief Commercial Officer of Arçelik, a subsidiary of Koç Holding in Turkey –– Mr. Can Dinçer participated in the Pakistan-Turkey Business & Investment Forum, recently chaired by the President of Turkey in Islamabad.

Mr. Can Dincer stated that “Since 2016, we have gained a very strong foothold in one of the world’s most promising markets, Pakistan and further built on the strengths of Dawlance. We are very proud to see that Dawlance and Arçelik grow together as part of a larger and global organization.

Arçelik operates across a vast geography spanning from Europe to Middle East and Africa to Asia and is progressing steadily on a global path. We have successfully transferred our technology know-how and innovation capabilities and invested in Dawlance to develop the business.

In 2020, our plan is to introduce competitive pricing model in all categories to better response to the needs of the changing demands while using the distribution channels effectively.  Our main objectives are to expand our experience stores and e-commerce platforms and increase small-medium potential dealers. At Arçelik, sustainability is at the very core of our business model in line with our vision ‘Respecting the World, Respected Worldwide’.

We focus on developing environmental friendly products increasing, energy efficiency in our global manufacturing network and contribute to the societies’ social innovation projects. I’m very proud to say that Pakistan will hopefully be one of the contributors to this vision.”

Koç Holding is the largest holding company in Turkey, with a successful history of over 60 years. Today, it is the only Turkish company ranked in the Fortune Global 500 list, as Koç Holding has established industry-leading portfolios in the automotive, electronics, finance and energy sectors, while employing over 92,500 people around the world.

Arçelik is a subsidiary of Koç Holding and the parent company of Dawlance. It is a leading Player in the Home-Appliances Industry which has the biggest Research & Development network with 20 R&D and design centers, including one R&D center in Karachi, Pakistan. Over the years, Arçelik has expanded its production-base, by establishing 23 manufacturing facilities in 9 countries, while its products are exported and sold in approx. 150 countries. Environment-Protection and employee well-being are among the primary focuses of the group.

The Chief Executive Officer of Dawlance – Umar Ahsan Khan thanked Mr. Can Dinçer, Chief Commercial Officer of Arçelik, for his visit to Pakistan and stated that: “Since Arçelik’s acquisition, Dawlance has gained tremendous competitive advantages in Pakistan, as Arçelik has made large scale investments in the company, to enhance the product quality and design, in upgrading the manufacturing facilities to global standards and in developing state of the art R&D facilities to drive innovation.

New production lines to manufacture Automatic Washing Machine and Water Dispensers have been set up, while Dawlance also began exporting CE Certified Water-Dispensers to Europe. With the vision of putting Dawlance on global arena, we are now implementing a strategy to expand our exports to other countries.”

Dawlance has achieved large manufacturing capabilities owing to its 3 factories. It is also expanding its largest Sales and Service network, which already comprises of 1800+ dealers across Pakistan. Dawlance has recently inaugurated an Experience Store in Peshawar, offering complete range of products to consumers.

In future, it plans to establish more experience stores in other cities too, a similar approach in both Arçelik and Dawlance is the dynamic structuring of distribution channel, which is an important part of its growth strategy.

Dawlance supports several universities in Pakistan, to nurture innovative engineering projects, technology-transfers and knowledge-sharing, between Turkey and Pakistan. Besides regular training and development activities, it seeks deeper insights into the evolving needs of the Pakistani consumers. While ensuring the health and Safety of its work-force, consumers and other stakeholders.

It sponsors environment-friendly projects and energy-conserving products that promise more sustainability and well-being of the public, while drastically reducing its carbon foot-print.

The key to Pakistan’s progress is the deployment of advanced technologies and Arçelik is known for undertaking extensive research and development activities, enabling enrichment and innovations in its wide range of products that perform well beyond the consumers’ expectations, by fulfilling the evolving needs of our consumers.

The Turkish and Pakistani governments must continue to work together, offering more incentives for large scale joint-ventures and public-private partnerships for the business communities.