This session will give an introduction into ethical questions regarding artificial intelligence.

 

Schedule

10:00 Mihaela Constantinescu (University of Bucharest): Where Is Responsibility in Responsible AI?
Although there are currently over a few hundred AI policy initiatives in the world tackling issues related to ethics and responsibility, there is still a lack of consensus regarding what Responsible AI entails on both conceptual and practical levels. In this talk, I focus on the ethical dimension of responsibility in Responsible AI by discussing the implications of using the three main ethical theories – deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics. I highlight the limits of the former ethical approaches and build the case for classical Aristotelian virtue ethics, where notions of context and dianoetic virtues play a grounding role for the concept of moral responsibility. Furthermore, I explore the practical implications of this particular understanding of moral responsibility along the triadic dimensions of ethics by design, ethics in design and ethics for designers.


10:20 Jill Toh (Racism & Technology Center): Addressing the (In)Visibility of Racism in AI and Technology
The development and use of AI has proliferated across many sectors in many countries. Yet, despite the proven harmful consequences of AI systems, the narrative of AI being a necessary technology to be developed and used persists. This talk will take a critical look at the racist and discriminatory effects of AI (and related technologies), based on the premises that (a) technology is not neutral, (b) fighting the idea that technology can only be racist if it is intended, (c) techno-solutionist thinking and ideology does not address the root problem of racism, discrimination and inequality in society. Through several examples, the talk will illustrate the use of AI in the private and public sectors in Europe, and the global dimensions of AI development. It will underscore how structural and institutional racism and discrimination becomes visible in the technology that we use, while simultaneously obscuring and making racism invisible. Fundamentally, the talk aims to highlight how emerging technologies such as AI disproportionately affect marginalised and disenfranchised communities in a myriad of ways, and how AI ethics (highly susceptible to ethics washing) does not address these core issues so far. It will conclude by critically reflecting on some of the regulatory efforts in Europe, and possibilities of changing the current narrative.


10:40 Discussion