Governance Institute to begin offering AI governance short courses

The Governance Institute of Australia will soon start offering a Certificate in AI governance, along with a trio of short courses.

The Institute said governance professionals are being "asked to sign off on AI-enabled decisions they did not design, approve systems they do not fully understand, and defend outcomes that may be difficult to explain after the fact".

“That is what AI governance is for. It is about applying established governance principles and accountability frameworks to the way AI is acquired, configured, connected to organisational data, monitored and managed over time," the Institute noted.

The first course looks at AI controls and assurance, designed to help governance professionals understand their responsibilities across the full lifecycle of AI systems and learn how to apply effective controls, identify when issues arise and take appropriate action.

The second course covers AI essentials for governance professionals, designed to build a practical understanding of AI and learn what it is, how it works in simple terms, where risks arise, and why the distinctive characteristics of AI create challenges for conventional governance frameworks in Australian organisations.

The third course focuses on AI governance, risk and oversight, designed to apply governance and risk principles to AI and help governance professionals support boards to oversee AI responsibly, confidently and in line with legal expectations when automated systems influence decisions and outcomes.

Last year, the Governance Institute warned that regulatory confusion and capability gaps are hampering artificial intelligence adoption across Australian organisations.