Rethinking The Foundations of Ethical AI

Extract from IISE (Joseph Byrum)

Augmented intelligence bypasses common ethical dilemmas

Deep learning and machine learning get all the attention these days, but implementation of the IEEE principles is more difficult with these forms of AI because they lack transparency. An alternative would be to concentrate on augmented intelligence systems that don’t need to be squeezed and molded into something that might fit under ethical guidelines. Augmented intelligence remains human-centered by design.

With augmented intelligence, the AI system by design is always under a human operator’s full control. The job of augmented intelligence algorithms is to process data and to provide refined intelligence to its user. The system can also offer suggested courses of action for the operator who reviews those and makes a final decision about what to do based upon the information presented.

Such systems are also transparent by design; because the in-formation is provided to the human operator, there’s a clear chain of data to follow to determine how each decision was formed. There’s no mystery involved.

It’s also better in terms of protecting human well-being. Augmented intelligence is similar to driving a car with a GPS device taking care of navigation, or with a lane assist feature that nudges drivers to keep them from veering off-course. It’s entirely possible for an evil driver to use a car so equipped to hit another vehicle or pedestrian, but that would only happen as the result of the operator’s deliberate choice. The system itself remains within ethical boundaries.

With a fully autonomous car, the systems are far more vulnerable to error and software glitches or hacking could cause unwanted results, to the detriment of human well-being. Human control acts as an insurance policy for human interests – it’s not a guarantee of good results, but it certainly helps.

Why ethics matters: Building the intelligent enterprise

Advancing ethical AI is a critical step toward having AI systems capable of assisting all the functions of a business. I refer to a company designed from the ground up to use augmented intelligence to boost the decision-making abilities of its employees as the intelligent enterprise. Judging from the benefits of one-off AI optimized systems, unlocking the productivity of every employee in a business would unleash a step change in efficiency, to the benefit of consumers and business owners alike.

But the intelligent enterprise will never become reality if AI development efforts are directed toward dead ends or systems the public will never fully trust. Ensuring more robust and ethical development of AI systems in these early days is the most critical step in achieving the long-term potential of automated systems.