To What Extent Ethics Can Be Considered While Developing Artificial Intelligence?

Introduction:

From finding fire to developing artificial intelligence (AI), humanity has improved immensely over the past era. Artificial intelligence's vast and swift growth has caught the eye and attention of numerous Artificial intelligence is software that uses computer science to create intelligent computer programs, enabling problem-solving and incorporating machine learning and deep learning subfields.

To utilize AI in many fields such as medicine, agriculture, the military, etc., there is still an abnormal number of checklists to tick off of 3. There is a very thin margin of things or a multitude of ethical concerns that are to be considered when making such prowess accessible to the 10 billion. The ethics and morals of each judgment should not target or bias one end of the spectrum. 4,5. AI uses even rants, racist, sexiest, and even derogatory words posted online to generate text. This leads to unfortunate argentous consequences. Adherence to ethics might restrict the information that is conveyed by AI6. This report is an effort to understand how an AI developer can consider the depth of ethics when developing AI.

Causes and Consequences:

Causes:

To conclude, AI uses a knowledge bank. This knowledge bank is built by scraping websites or data feed inputs. Unethical scraping and data feeding lead to biased outcomes. Such biased AI outcomes may lead to stereotypes, violate user privacy, or even create human rights misuse.

Concerns can also arise from the source of the data. There can be legal suits for questionable or copyrighted sources used in AI training. To quote an example, the recent clash of two titans, i.e., the New York Times vs. Open AI, with the contention of copyrighted articles used by ChatGPT, an Open AI product,

OpenAI, one of the frontrunners in the AI industry, fired its founder, Sam Altman, due to the debate and the side being taken by Sam. This sparked a huge X (previously Twitter) conversation on whether his departure from the board is because of ethical or ideological differences about developing future AI tech by OpenAI 10.

Consequences:

One of the non-debatable consequences is the unfair decisions made by the language model. The original, human morals considered, decisions are given to AI models, which can inflict biases that are present in their training data, leading to unfair outcomes, discrimination, and the exacerbation of societal inequalities. As mentioned, the AI model still doesn't think for itself; hackers can then proceed to automate and multiply data breaches, mainly using brute force 12. This means AI can also be used for digital robberies and can lead to unwanted people having unauthorized access, misuse of data, and the potential for mass surveillance.

When developing AI with consideration of this data, we lose the ability to identify and mitigate biases in data and algorithms, promoting fairer outcomes in areas like hiring, loan applications, and criminal justice. 13,14. For the sake of giving a quicker human-like response, AI is programmed to give an adulterated result that might affect the majority (15).

Ethically, it is wrong for a rich person or a person to have access to the data to utilize and derive a profitable conclusion that serves his or her agenda. Also, with technology not reachable to the poor, such scenarios will deepen the gulf between the rich and poor. 16,17,18.

Global Perspective:

Responsible innovation applies to AI inventions as well. A global perspective on a wide topic of AI ethics focuses more on humanitarian ethics or a human-centred perspective. Mainly focusing on the well-being, rights, values and morals of people. Transparency, fairness, mitigating bias, privacy protection, etc. have to be intrinsic elements in an ethical AI 19.

As the world heads toward a more collaborative environment, standards tend to grow. Initiatives and organizations are working towards creating foundations that facilitate the responsible development and spreading of AI technologies across borders. For example, the BSA Alliance, a policymaker for the growth of AI, has applied its policies to the governments of more than 30 countries to ensure ethical software development, enhance the use of privacy, and maximize software utilization. Inclusive decision-making involves including diverse perspectives in decision-making processes. Responsible AI in specific domains requires tailored ethical considerations and ongoing discussions.

Public engagement and awareness are a global priority. The question of to what extent ethics can be considered in AI development is a complex one that sparks global debate. The United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) recommendation on the ethics of artificial intelligence provides a global framework for policymakers and developers, while the European Union's (EU) Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI offer recommendations for ethical AI development and deployment in the EU. To move forward, open dialogue and collaboration, context-specific approaches, and continuous research and development are essential for developing effective and inclusive AI ethics frameworks.

National Perspective:

Russia’s stance on AI ethics is complex and multifaceted, reflecting its unique political, cultural, and technological landscape. Russia prioritizes AI development for national security and military purposes, including autonomous weapons systems. This raises concerns about ethical considerations being secondary to strategic goals, potentially leading to less stringent ethical standards compared to other nations [22, 24]. The Russian government established a working group on AI ethics in 2019, but concrete regulations are still in development. There’s no single, universally accepted view on AI ethics in Russia. With some advocating a human-centric AI approach and others prioritizing national and technological advancement. Taylor & Francis online highlights that Russia participates in international discussions on AI ethics, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and UNESCO. Russia’s Position on Autonomous Weapons Systems Understanding the diverse perspectives and ongoing debates is crucial for developing a nuanced understanding of this complex issue.

Solution or Course of Action:

A proposed action would be to spread awareness of AI to the world through interdisciplinary collaboration online and public consultation camps, which can help victims of transparency, bias mitigation, privacy protection, and international collaboration. These should be taught worldwide: continuous monitoring and evaluation, ethics training for developers, a regulatory framework, accountability mechanisms, adaptive governance models, long-term impact assessments, public education and awareness, and ethics committees and review boards (31, 33). Approaches to ethical AI development include developing ethical frameworks, involving diverse stakeholders, and conducting continuous monitoring and evaluation.

Updating oneself with AI ethical development considerations and fostering responsible AI utilization is every human’s mandate. It is equally important to assign and account for the More Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs) to develop AI as a corporate social responsibility.

Purposeful and responsible AI utilization should be taught in schools. Governments or the United Nations should pass resolutions and enact laws that strictly enforce industries to follow AI ethical utilization protocols (31).

Reflection:

Through my research, I encountered various sources on AI but struggled to find ones written by true experts in the field. I discovered that many of the sources I came across were articles on LinkedIn, authored by individuals who lacked experience or knowledge in AI. This revelation made me aware of the influence of vested interests and the pursuit of financial gain or fame. It compelled me to thoroughly read each article and identify the underlying motives.

As a result of my research, my initial perception of AI solely as a tool for repetitive tasks transformed into a realization of its potential impact on widening societal gaps and differing national perspectives. Additionally, I gained insights into the security implications and the intersection of AI with art and literature. This learning experience has fundamentally changed my perspective on AI, prompting me to recognize the complex implications it holds.

Source evaluation:

One source that impressed me was Incredibleai.net. I feel that it's one of the most trusted global sources. But it could have its drawbacks as an online media source, as it can have misleading information or vested interests. The main reason I chose this source was its constant updates and wider range of information, which helped me stay on track with the drama and the updates. Although one can claim this as an unpopular source, it shows much more perspectives from wider angles and also the consequences of it.

My other source is IFAC, a global-level accounting organization. My contention is that, as financial ideals also play a major role, this source helps to further emphasize the various views to consider when developing AI. It also emphasizes the need to spread AI to the least economically developed countries (LEDCs).

Other sources for this research are articles and plans of UNESCO, a department or branch of the United Nations purely specializing in education, science, and culture. This helped me base my research on various other fields and was well supported by global organizations that specialize in these topics.

Author Viewpoints:

Ethics in AI is a vast topic, which I found difficult to cover in 2000 words. It felt imperative that every viewpoint and perspective be mentioned. It is important to realize the AI accessibility of LEDCs and the dangers they might face. If not realized, the gap between them and MEDCs deepens. AI, used as chatbots by companies to attend to customers, removes the human touch.Slowly, unbiased human decisions are replaced with thoughtless AI responses. Replacement of human workers for AI, causing more unemployment, are all common but important problems that are currently in the spotlight.

Personal Perspective and Conclusion:

Personally, the potential of AI to tackle global challenges like climate change, world hunger, peace, cyber security, etc. is immense. But it also raises concerns about privacy, biases, accountability, and responsibility when the model makes mistakes. My research aims to conclude that any AI rabbit hole has only two sides. There is no middle ground. Either you restrict the use of AI in many fields and limit its use to certain people, or you give access (by making it open source) to the whole world, giving them the power of knowledge. Although the technological gap between the poor and the rich becomes deeper and deeper, The ability for people to cleanly rob the data of millions and the infinite ways to plagiarize the writings of the entire globe’s writers prove more of a threat. So, I say that the restriction of ethics on the availability of AI and the replacement of AI on decisions that are related to humans are to be done by humans with partial supervision of AI, or vice versa. The ethical considerations surrounding AI are not static but evolving, requiring continuous care. The ethical dimension of AI extends beyond legal and regulatory frameworks, encompassing a deeper commitment to fostering a harmonious coexistence between humans and machines.

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