The ethics of artificial intelligence: Issues and initiatives

The ethics of artificial

intelligence: Issues and initiatives

STUDY

Panel for the Future of Science and Technology

EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Scientific Foresight Unit (STOA) PE 634.452 ? March 2020

EN

The ethics of artificial intelligence: Issues and initiatives

This study deals with the ethical implications and moral questions that arise from the development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. It also reviews the guidelines and frameworks which countries and regions around the world have created to address them. It presents a comparison between the current main frameworks and the main ethical issues, and highlights gaps around the mechanisms of fair benefit-sharing; assigning of responsibility; exploitation of workers; energy demands in the context of environmental and climate changes; and more complex and less certain implications of AI, such as those regarding human relationships.

STOA | Panel for the Future of Science and Technology

AUTHORS This study has been drafted by Eleanor Bird, Jasmin Fox-Skelly, Nicola Jenner, Ruth Larbey, Emma Weitkamp and Alan Winfield from the Science Communication Unit at the University of the West of England, at the request of the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA), and managed by the Scientific Foresight Unit, within the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) of the Secretariat of the European Parliament.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the following interviewees: John C. Havens (The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (A/IS)) and Jack Stilgoe (Department of Science & Technology Studies, University College London).

ADMINISTRATOR RESPONSIBLE Mihalis Kritikos, Scientific Foresight Unit (STOA) To contact the publisher, please e-mail stoa@ep.europa.eu

LINGUISTIC VERSION Original: EN Manuscript completed in March 2020.

DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their parliamentary work. The content of the document is the sole responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent an official position of the Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. Brussels ? European Union, 2020.

PE 634.452 ISBN: 978-92-846-5799-5 doi: 10.2861/6644 QA-01-19-779-EN-N

(STOA website) (intranet) (internet) (blog)

Executive summary

The ethics of artificial intelligence: Issues and initiatives

? Seanbatty / Pixabay

This report deals with the ethical implications and moral questions that arise from the development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. It also reviews the guidelines and frameworks that countries and regions around the world have created to address them. It presents a comparison between the current main frameworks and the main ethical issues, and highlights gaps around mechanisms of fair benefit sharing; assigning of responsibility; exploitation of workers; energy demands in the context of environmental and climate changes; and more complex and less certain implications of AI, such as those regarding human relationships.

Chapter 1 introduces the scope of the report and defines key terms. The report draws on the European Commission's definition of AI as 'systems that display intelligent behaviour'. Other key terms defined in this chapter include intelligence and how this is used in the context of AI and intelligent robots (i.e. robots with an embedded AI), as well as defining machine learning, artificial neural networks and deep learning, before moving on to consider definitions of morality and ethics and how these relate to AI.

In Chapter 2 the report maps the main ethical dilemmas and moral questions associated with the deployment of AI. The report begins by outlining a number of potential benefits that could arise from AI as a context in which to situate ethical, social and legal considerations. Within the context of issues for society, the report considers the potential impacts of AI on the labour market, focusing on the likely impact on economic growth and productivity, the impact on the workforce, potential impacts on different demographics, including a worsening of the digital divide, and the consequences of deployment of AI on the workplace. The report considers the potential impact of AI on inequality and how the benefits of AI could be shared within society, as well as issues concerning the concentration of AI technology within large internet companies and political stability. Other societal issues addressed in this chapter include privacy, human rights and dignity, bias, and issues for democracy.

I

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download