The recent scandals over the use of Facebook user data has proven the necessity of ethics for AI, but standards to assess AI are still in their infancy. Further debate should be done to come up with solutions to this pressing issue.
According to the World Economic Forum’s news, so far, the ethical standards for assessing AI and its associated technologies are still in their beginnings. Some standards mentioned are deontological and teleological ethical standards, the golden rule of ethics which means treating others the way you want to be treated. Another set is cultural relativism versus universalism, the former evaluates actions through values and norms of a given culture while the latter encourages living up to universal standards. Ethical standards have the tendency to shape global competition since many companies are trying to become industry leaders, and it is difficult to tell what they could do to get ahead. Moreover, predictability and transparency are also required to attract investment in the use of AI.
Another aspect in need of careful consideration is creating cognitive machines capable of making independent decisions. AI has strong potential to do good in the world, but it also poses some ethical challenges. Firstly, if mistakes made by AI cause serious damage, who should take the responsibility for the damage? Secondly, if AI can make many important decisions independently, transparency will be something that needs attention, otherwise people might find it difficult to understand the causes behind a specific series of actions made by AI. A few other issues including bias and human values pose a challenge to humankind, as AI mostly uses data for machine learning progress.
AI needs attention to moral principles and values to ensure its action will be for human interests. MDI is developing the 7-Layer Model on ethical standards for AI to serve as a platform for exploiting the benefit aspects of AI and a useful approach for innovators to follow.