incident response
What It Means
Incident response is the formal public statement or action a company takes when their AI system causes harm, fails significantly, or becomes involved in a controversial situation. It's essentially how organizations officially address and communicate about AI-related problems that affect users, society, or business operations.
Why Chief AI Officers Care
Poor incident response can destroy stakeholder trust, trigger regulatory investigations, and result in costly lawsuits or fines. CAIOs need robust incident response plans because AI failures often make headlines quickly, and the initial response sets the tone for legal liability, customer retention, and regulatory relationships.
Real-World Example
When Microsoft's Tay chatbot started posting offensive tweets in 2016, Microsoft's incident response included immediately shutting down the bot, issuing a public apology explaining what went wrong, and committing to better content filtering - demonstrating accountability while protecting the company's reputation.
Common Confusion
People often confuse incident response with internal technical troubleshooting, but incident response specifically refers to external, public-facing communications and actions taken after an AI incident becomes known to stakeholders outside the organization.
Industry-Specific Applications
See how this term applies to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, government, tech, and insurance.
Healthcare: In healthcare, incident response involves systematic protocols for addressing AI system failures that could impact patie...
Finance: In finance, incident response involves systematic procedures for addressing AI system failures that could impact trading...
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Includes:
- 6 industry-specific applications
- Relevant regulations by sector
- Real compliance scenarios
- Implementation guidance
Technical Definitions
NISTNational Institute of Standards and Technology
"a public official response to an incident ... from an entity (i.e. company, organization, individual) allegedly responsible for developing or deploying the AI or AI system involved in said incident."Source: AIID_incident_response
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