Work

Getting into the engine room: a blueprint to investigate the shadowy steps of AI ethics

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Enacting an AI system typically requires three iterative phases where AI engineers are in command: selection and preparation of the data, selection and configuration of algorithmic tools, and fine-tuning of the different parameters on the basis of intermediate results. Our main hypothesis is that these phases involve practices with ethical questions. This paper maps these ethical questions and proposes a way to address them in light of a neo-republican understanding of freedom, defined as absence of domination. We thereby identify different types of responsibility held by AI engineers and link them to concrete suggestions on how to improve professional practices. This paper contributes to the literature on AI and ethics by focusing on the work necessary to configure AI systems, thereby offering an input to better practices and an input for societal debates.

Source: AI & Society

DOI: 10.1007/s00146-020-01069-w

Authors: Johan Rochel, Florian Evéquoz

Institutions: University of Zurich, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland

Language: English

Topic: Ethics and Social Impacts of AI

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,750

Funder: Universität Zürich