Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence
As investors cheered the artificial intelligence boom, critics sounded alarms. They warned that tech’s build fast, ask questions later mentality is causing AI to accelerate unchecked into systems that can promote misinformation, bias, hate speech and fraud.
And they argued that, with billions of dollars at stake, companies would do anything to be first to market. Several experts pointed out that we’ve experienced this same dynamic with social media — it was widely adopted before its toxic elements became clear. It is too early to tell whether the same will happen with AI. But the fervor for it suggests that the risks are real.
The most pressing issue is that AI Frenzy will often be used to reproduce existing discrimination – in credit scoring, for example, or in judicial processes like setting bail, sentencing or parole. This is because the data used to train AI algorithms will encode human biases, even if those features are not explicitly in the training set. AI will also be able to pick up on secondary features that infer those excluded from the training data (e.g., a proxy variable for race from income and zip code).
The Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence
Other concerns include an AI’s ability to lie or manipulate humans. For example, it is not uncommon for fake news to be spread using algorithms that identify human faces in photos. These algorithms can be trained to recognize a person’s face and then manipulate the image of that person to appear to have a different race, age or gender. It is therefore important that companies take steps to check these algorithms for bias and make sure they are designed with transparency in mind.
But it’s important to remember that AI is a tool, not an actor. And just like other tools, it can be used for good or evil. This is why we need to be careful not to let the hype of AI fool us into thinking it will solve all of our problems – because it won’t.
It’s not too late to develop a new set of best practices for companies working with AI. Several groups are already trying to do so. They include the Data and Ethics working group led by Google’s Chief Legal Officer, Richard Salgado, as well as a number of technology industry bodies, including the Technology Leaders Council. The goal of these efforts is to create an industry-wide code of conduct that will ensure the integrity, security and fairness of AI systems.
As for what to expect in the future, it’s important to keep in mind that, by 2030, advanced AI will be a part of the fabric of global life. It will be difficult to force it to adhere to a particular ethical standard in fundamentally unethical parts of society. James is an impressive entrepreneur with an excellent product, the right team and strong determination. He’s focused on building an innovative solution that will transform e-commerce.
Frenzy is a SaaS that uses computer vision to identify exact products in imagery and help retailers scale their e-commerce operations. Poor product data costs businesses $3.1 trillion a year, and Frenzy helps them increase search conversion, SEO and marketplace performance 200%+ while reducing product labeling costs by 50%+.