PwC launches AI assurance offering to support AI adoption

PwC has announced its new assurance for AI service aimed at helping businesses tackle the adoption of AI and “gain peace of mind amid evolving regulatory demands”.

The firm said it created the offering as recent research it conducted found that trusted AI had the potential to boost economic output in the Asia-Pacific region by 14.7 per cent over the next decade.

PwC said the assurance offering also came amid the statistic of 84 per cent of knowledge workers were currently using AI daily, with businesses “under intense pressure” to adopt this new technology while maintaining compliance.

Sue Horlin, PwC Australia’s assurance leader, said to help businesses prepare for the rapid change and capture the value, PwC was ramping up its responsible AI capabilities to deliver a robust, independent assurance service to Australian businesses.

“With AI adoption accelerating, boards, regulators, customers and the public are rightly concerned about oversight and accountability,” she said.

“Assurance for AI provides an essential layer of confidence, affirming that systems are robust and aligned with industry and regulatory standards.”

According to the firm, the AI assurance team would help organisations to gain independent perspective on the integrity, robustness and fairness of their AI systems, assess governance frameworks and control environments and evaluate data sourcing and related management practices to address risks of bias, draft and other risks.

Additionally, the offering would help organisations assess the design and effectiveness of their own monitoring and testing procedures, provide users with tested insights to support outcome explainability and interpretability and receive insights into how company procedures compare to leading practices and emerging standards and regulations.

PwC said the new independent assurance and other related services would also aim to help organisations offer stakeholders a clear, evidence-based view of how their AI systems operated and how it was addressing related risks.

Nicola Costello, PwC Australia digital and AI trust leader, said PwC had long played a leading and instrumental role in shaping practical solutions for the responsible use of AI.

“The offering marks the next evolution of assurance services, and the Australian team will advance the way organisations build transparency and trust in their AI systems. We are proud to be industry leaders in this important and rapidly changing area for businesses.”