Have you heard the saying, "you are what you eat"? Well, the same applies to Artificial Intelligence (AI). Imagine training your brand new AI assistant with nothing but clickbait articles and conspiracy theories. Not exactly the recipe for reliable results.

The quality of data you feed your AI is critical– just like your body thrives on healthy food, your AI thrives on clean, accurate data.

Garry Ma, CEO and founder of Ample Insight, a leading Toronto-based AI consulting firm, told us why data quality is a core ingredient for successful AI:

Accuracy and reliability: Garbage in, garbage out, right? Dirty data leads to inaccurate predictions and unreliable AI models. Imagine an AI designed to assist doctors in diagnosing diseases. If trained on inaccurate data, it might misdiagnose a serious illness, leading to potentially critical delays in proper treatment.

Fairness and avoiding bias: Data can be biased, reflecting the real world's prejudices. If your data isn't diverse and representative, your AI could perpetuate those biases. Think of a music recommendation system that only suggests music by a certain genre because the training data came from a single streaming platform known for that genre. Not ideal for music discovery.

Staying on the right side of the law: Data privacy regulations are getting stricter (think GDPR and CCPA). Maintaining healthy data practices isn't just ethical, it's becoming a legal requirement. Clean data helps you comply with the law and avoid hefty fines.

Building trust and transparency: People are more likely to trust AI if they understand how it works. Healthy data practices contribute to transparency. If you can show users that your AI is trained on clean, well-maintained data, they're more likely to accept it.

Long-term success: Investing in data quality isn't just a one-time thing. As your business grows and data landscapes change, your AI needs to adapt. Clean, well-maintained data ensures your AI systems stay robust, scalable, and continue to deliver value over time.

Want to learn more about all things AI? Learn more about our Good AI program, designed to help founders understand the importance of incorporating ethical AI principles into products.