Responsible AI Impact Assessment Template

Summary

Microsoft's Responsible AI Impact Assessment Template provides a systematic approach to evaluating AI systems against responsible AI principles before deployment. This structured template guides organizations through identifying which responsible AI goals apply to their specific use case, assessing potential negative impacts, and documenting mitigation strategies. Unlike generic risk assessment frameworks, this template is specifically designed for AI systems and includes pre-built considerations for fairness, reliability, safety, privacy, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability.

What makes this different

This template stands out because it's built from Microsoft's real-world experience deploying AI systems at enterprise scale. Rather than offering abstract principles, it provides concrete questions and evaluation criteria that teams can immediately apply. The assessment is structured around six core responsible AI goals, with specific guidance on when each goal is relevant based on your AI system's characteristics.

The template uses a decision-tree approach - you don't evaluate every possible impact, but instead follow guided pathways based on your system's purpose, data types, and user interactions. This makes it more practical than comprehensive frameworks that can overwhelm teams with hundreds of considerations.

Core assessment areas

• System characterization: The template begins by helping you define your AI system's purpose, capabilities, and context. This foundational step determines which subsequent assessments are most critical for your use case.
• Goal-specific evaluations: Each of the six responsible AI goals includes tailored questions and impact scenarios. For example, the fairness section provides different evaluation paths for content recommendation systems versus hiring tools.
• Impact severity scoring: The template includes guidance for rating potential harms on severity scales, helping prioritize mitigation efforts and determine whether additional review is needed before deployment.
• Mitigation tracking: Built-in sections for documenting planned responses to identified risks, including timelines and responsible parties.

Who this resource is for

• AI product teams and developers building customer-facing AI applications who need to evaluate responsible AI risks before launch. The template assumes some technical familiarity with AI systems but doesn't require deep ethics expertise.
• Risk and compliance professionals tasked with reviewing AI deployments can use this as a structured intake process to ensure consistent evaluation across different AI projects in their organization.
• Small to medium-sized companies that need responsible AI processes but lack the resources to develop comprehensive frameworks from scratch. The template provides enterprise-grade assessment processes in a ready-to-use format.
• Organizations using Microsoft AI services will find the template particularly aligned with Microsoft's responsible AI tools and documentation, though it's designed to work with any AI system.

Getting the most value

Start with a pilot project rather than trying to assess your entire AI portfolio at once. The template works best when filled out collaboratively by cross-functional teams including technical developers, product managers, and domain experts who understand the business context.

Don't skip the system characterization section - the quality of your initial system description directly impacts the relevance of subsequent assessment questions. Be specific about your AI system's capabilities, limitations, and intended use cases.

Use the assessment as a living document. Plan to revisit and update your evaluation as your AI system evolves or as you gather data about real-world performance and user feedback.

Consider this template as a starting point for developing your organization's responsible AI assessment process. You may want to customize questions based on your industry, regulatory requirements, or organizational risk tolerance.

Watch out for

The template assumes you already have a developed AI system to evaluate. It's not designed for early-stage concept evaluation or for choosing between different AI approaches.

While comprehensive, the assessment is self-guided and doesn't replace expert review for high-risk applications. Organizations deploying AI in sensitive domains like healthcare, criminal justice, or financial services should supplement this template with domain-specific expertise.

The template focuses on pre-deployment assessment. You'll need additional processes for ongoing monitoring and post-deployment evaluation of responsible AI impacts.