The ethical and moral dimensions of artificial intelligence (AI) remain a subject of intense debate and scrutiny. AI itself is inherently neutral, as it operates based on algorithms and data. However, the use and impact of AI can be either ethical or unethical, depending on how it is developed, deployed, and regulated. The responsibility for ensuring the ethical and moral use of AI lies with humans, particularly those involved in its creation and governance. It is imperative that AI is designed with principles such as transparency, fairness, and accountability in mind. Moreover, the development of AI should adhere to a strong ethical framework, addressing issues like bias, discrimination, and the potential for harm to society. In essence, AI can be a powerful tool for good when guided by ethical considerations, but it can also pose significant ethical challenges when misused or left unregulated. The key lies in shaping the technology to align with our moral values and societal goals.
Tag: GS Paper-3: Robotics, IT & Computers.
GS Paper-4.
Exam View:
Use of AI in governance; Ethical challenges; Categories of machine agents.
Context:
Programming ethics into machines is complex, and the world must proceed cautiously with Artificial Intelligence
Decoding the editorial: Use of AI in governance
- Increasingly, machines and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are assisting humans in decision-making, particularly in governance.
- Several countries are introducing AI regulations.
- Government agencies and policymakers are leveraging AI-powered tools to analyse complex patterns, forecast future scenarios, and provide more informed recommendations.
- In some countries, decision-making algorithms are even being used to determine the beneficiaries of social sector schemes.
- Programming ethics into a machine and AI is even more complex.
Ethical challenges
- Threat to the capacity for moral reasoning:
- Immanuel Kant’s ethical philosophy emphasises autonomy, rationality, and the moral duty of individuals.
- Applying Kantian ethics to the use of AI in decision-making within governance could lead to serious concerns.
- If decisions that were once the purview of humans are delegated to algorithms, it could threaten the capacity for moral reasoning.
- The person or institution using AI could be considered to be abdicating their moral responsibility.
- Inherent challenges in translating human moral complexity into algorithmic form:
- Isaac Asimov’s ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ were designed to govern robotic behaviour, aiming for ethical actions, but within Asimov’s fictional world, the laws lead to unexpected and often paradoxical outcomes.
- The attempts to codify ethics into rules, whether for robots or complex AI-driven governmental decision-making, reveal the inherent challenges in translating human moral complexity into algorithmic form.
- Skewed or unjust outcomes:
- The biases inherent in AI are often a reflection of the biases in the data they are trained on or the perspectives of their developers.
- It can represent a significant challenge in the integration of AI into governance.
Despite this, it is inevitable that AI would be used in governance decisions.
Categories of machine agents
- A wide body of literature suggests that machines can, in some sense, be ethical agents responsible for their actions, or autonomous moral agents (AMAs).
- In Moore’s 2006 classification, four categories of machine agents relating to ethics are defined.
- Ethical impact agents: machines with ethical consequences, like robot jockeys, which don’t make ethical decisions but pose ethical considerations, such as altering the sport’s dynamics.
- Implicit ethical agents: machines with embedded safety or ethical guidelines, such as a safe autopilot system in planes, which follow set rules without actively deciding what is ethical.
- Explicit ethical agents: machines which go beyond set rules, using formal methods to estimate the ethical value of options, like systems that balance financial investments with social responsibility.
- Full ethical agents: machines which are capable of making and justifying ethical judgments, including reasonable explanations. An adult human is a full ethical agent, and so would be an advanced AI with a similar understanding of ethics.
- It is not that easy to create AMAs, especially the third and fourth because:
- A peer-reviewed paper published in Science and Engineering Ethics found that from a technological standpoint, artificial agents are still far from being able to replace human judgement in complex, unpredictable, or unclear ethical scenarios.
- Bounded ethicality:
- Hagendorf and Danks (2022) fed prompts to Delphi, a research prototype designed to model people’s moral judgments.
- They found that similar to humans, machines like Delphi may also engage in immoral behaviour if framed in a way that detaches ethical principles from the act itself.
- This suggests that human patterns of moral disengagement could translate into machine-bounded ethicality.
- Moral disengagement is a key aspect of bounded ethical decision-making, allowing people to act against their ethics without guilt through techniques like moral justifications.
Eventually, governments would delegate a few rudimentary decisions to the machines. But there are several challenges that still need to be considered like who would be responsible for immoral or unethical decision making or the notion of punishing the AI system becomes problematic, as it lacks the ability to experience suffering or bear guilt.
Source: The Hindu
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can AI make ethical decisions?
A: AI itself doesn’t make ethical decisions. It operates based on algorithms and data, and its behavior is determined by how it’s programmed. Ethical decisions regarding AI are made by its developers, users, and regulators.
2. How can AI be designed to be ethical and moral?
A: AI can be designed with ethical considerations by incorporating principles such as transparency, fairness, and accountability into its development. Careful data selection, regular audits, and diverse teams working on AI projects can help mitigate ethical risks.
3. What are the ethical concerns with AI?
A: Ethical concerns with AI include issues like bias in algorithms, discrimination, invasion of privacy, job displacement, and the potential for AI to be used in harmful ways. Addressing these concerns is vital to ensure AI’s moral use.
4. Can AI be programmed to avoid unethical behaviors?
A: AI can be programmed with rules and constraints to avoid certain unethical behaviors. However, there are limitations, and it is challenging to predict and prevent all potential unethical actions. Continuous monitoring and improvements are essential.
5. Who is responsible for ensuring the ethical use of AI?
A: Responsibility for the ethical use of AI lies with multiple stakeholders, including AI developers, organizations deploying AI, governments, and regulatory bodies. A collective effort is needed to establish guidelines and enforce ethical practices in AI development and deployment.
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