Casper Labs, a prominent enterprise blockchain software provider, and IBM Consulting have announced a strategic collaboration aimed at elevating transparency and auditability in artificial intelligence (AI) systems. This partnership, unveiled on January 11, 2023, sets out to develop an innovative solution leveraging Casper Labs' blockchain technology and utilizing IBM watsonx.governance.
The forthcoming Labs solution, designed with blockchain and powered by IBM watsonx.governance, aims to establish an additional analytics and policy enforcement layer for governing AI training data across organizations. Recognizing that the process of training and deploying generative AI models spans multiple entities, the solution seeks to provide a robust framework for tracking, auditing changes, and diagnosing issues associated with evolving AI models.
Blockchain's role in this collaboration is crucial. It facilitates the sharing of trusted context information through metadata, documenting model changes while mitigating risks such as intellectual property crossover or unnecessary data sharing across organizational boundaries. Labs' solution, built on the tamper-resistant Casper blockchain, further leverages IBM watsonx.governance and watsonx.ai to monitor and measure highly serialized input and output data for training AI systems across organizations.
One key feature of the Casper Labs solution is its hybrid nature and permissioning system, affording organizations enhanced control over data access. This ensures that sensitive information remains protected from external actors, with organizations determining who can access specific data within the solution.
Moreover, the solution incorporates version control using the serialization capabilities of blockchain. Organizations can efficiently revert to previous iterations of an AI system, providing a mechanism to address performance issues or biased outputs.
IBM Consulting's AI governance and technology experts will collaborate with Casper Labs to bring this solution to fruition. Expected to be available in beta by the first quarter of 2024, the solution will later be accessible through various channels, including the IBM Cloud Marketplace.
Shyam Nagarajan, Global Partner, Blockchain and Responsible AI Leader at IBM Consulting, emphasized the significance of effective AI governance, stating, "An AI system’s efficacy is ultimately as good as an organization’s ability to govern it."
The new solution aspires to cater to various industries, including financial services, healthcare, and retail. Among its features are a Compliance Dashboard, Quality Control Toolkit, Version Control, and an Audit and Reporting System, fostering responsible AI deployment at scale.
