We aim at trustworthy AI. To that end, we have defined principles for the responsible design, development, and application of AI systems.

The capabilities of AI models and their applications in business and everyday life are developing at a fast pace. The tremendous progress on Large Language Models like ChatGPT, but also on other AI applications fascinates people and humanity. At the same time, it raises concerns on the reliability and safety of the use of AI for some specific cases, and their impact on society, businesses, and work life.

Software companies providing AI can no longer treat algorithms as a purely technical matter but need to frame the deployment of AI with questions on impact, ethics, and responsibility. AI has evolved from research into a matter for everyone to consider.

Since its founding in 1969, INFORM has been a pioneer in applying algorithms to business problems, including search and optimization techniques as well as machine learning. Both classes of techniques have tremendously benefited from technical as well as methodological enhancements. We continue to be eager to enhance businesses with such technology. At the same time, our strong values have always driven us towards a responsible use of AI.

We see ourselves continuing to work on this mission. In order to uphold our high standards when scaling AI applications, we see the need to make our values and product development practices clear and transparent. INFORM's Responsible AI Guidelines are meant to make our principles explicit, towards our employees as well as towards our customers, suppliers, and partners. We believe that only transparency and a human-centered approach can provide the basis for trustworthy AI to be adopted and accepted by people.

With our European roots and worldwide presence, we see our values to be deeply anchored in humanitarian thinking, and we are happy to see our home country rank highest in the AI Social Contract Index1. While this provides the basis for an ethical and responsible use of AI, we are at the same time eager to contribute to a more widespread adoption of ethically acceptable AI and other algorithmic methodology for the good of business, humanity, and sustainability. As part of our sustainability agenda, we are committed to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and this includes our AI activities.

With this document, we contribute to the ongoing discussion about how AI can be framed responsibly.

1Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation, Center for AI and Digital Policy: Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Values – The AI Social Contract Index 2020, (AISCI-2020), https://dukakis.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/AISCI-2020.pdf