Lessons Learned in Performing a Trustworthy AI and Fundamental Rights Assessment

TL;DR

This paper shares practical experiences, results, and lessons from a pilot project assessing the trustworthy use of AI in environmental monitoring, combining EU and Dutch frameworks for fundamental rights and AI assessment.

Contribution

It demonstrates the application of a comprehensive Trustworthy AI and Fundamental Rights assessment methodology in a real-world environmental AI project.

Findings

Identified key challenges in applying AI assessments in environmental monitoring.

Provided insights into integrating EU and Dutch AI assessment frameworks.

Highlighted lessons learned for future trustworthy AI implementations.

Abstract

This report shares the experiences, results and lessons learned in conducting a pilot project ``Responsible use of AI'' in cooperation with the Province of Friesland, Rijks ICT Gilde-part of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) (both in The Netherlands) and a group of members of the Z-Inspection$^{\small{\circledR}}$ Initiative. The pilot project took place from May 2022 through January 2023. During the pilot, the practical application of a deep learning algorithm from the province of Fr\^yslan was assessed. The AI maps heathland grassland by means of satellite images for monitoring nature reserves. Environmental monitoring is one of the crucial activities carried on by society for several purposes ranging from maintaining standards on drinkable water to quantifying the CO2 emissions of a particular state or region. Using satellite imagery and machine learning to support decisions is becoming an important part of environmental monitoring. The main focus of this report is to share the experiences, results and lessons learned from performing both a Trustworthy AI assessment using the Z-Inspection$^{\small{\circledR}}$ process and the EU framework for Trustworthy AI, and combining it with a Fundamental Rights assessment using the Fundamental Rights and Algorithms Impact Assessment (FRAIA) as recommended by the Dutch government for the use of AI algorithms by the Dutch public authorities.