Here are some issues worth mulling over when it comes to the development of AI: data protection. Biased decision-making. Bias in employment. The social impact on the environment. The future of warfare. 

What are your thoughts regarding the impact of tech innovation on humanity? Don’t you think you deserve to have a say when it comes to how technology is being developed?

In this episode, Alexander McCaig welcomes Bernd Stahl back on the TCAST. The pair navigate some important questions regarding the ethics of artificial intelligence, and the impact of its progress.

The Trickle-Down Effects of AI

One issue Alexander raised was regarding the top-down hierarchical approach that’s commonly been used in many different kinds of organizations, throughout the history of humanity. This approach usually backfires because all the power to decide is concentrated in the hands of an elite few. As a result, the people who form the base of the top-down approach are dependent on them.

However, AI can be developed in a way that would enable resource-holders to directly analyze the general public, using ethically-sourced data to power their algorithms. Through direct interaction with the communities that they want to research and develop, the benefits of future technology can better tickle down to those who need it the most. 

But this system also poses risks, especially when the people who are being studied do not have a say in the amount of data that is taken from them. With this, Alexander raises the idea of allowing people to choose which data can enter these systems and be analyzed. 

Discussing the Deadlock in AI and Ethics

To this, Bernd discusses the magnitude of this initiative. While the European Union is trying to achieve this through its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Bernd points out that it can be difficult for the individual data subject to communicate their desires to the data collectors. In addition, data regulation needs to account for changes in consumer’s preferences over time because as humans, we aren’t very consistent in what we want. 

Due to the complexity of this relationship, history has developed in a way that allowed companies to accumulate the resources and the power to benefit the most from AI. There is a strong recognition that this imbalance is problematic. It’s inequitable, it does not help humanity evolve or enforce equality, and it does not give the disenfranchised the best chances to succeed in life through technology.

So Alexander raised the question: what if we could work towards a collective decision on how we define the ethics and outcome of AI systems? If we agree on our vision of the future and focus our efforts on that as a collective, we could better inform the AI algorithms and help direct them to a clearer path. One that is in favor of humanity. 

However, Bernd pointed out that vast differences in preferences and moral stances can make it difficult for us to agree on one clear direction. 

Closing Thoughts

AI is capable of helping us. This is undisputed. One area that Bernd believes AI can be most utilized is in medicine. For example, personalized medicine can look into the genome sequencing and medical history of an individual, and run it against other samples. This would potentially empower scientists, providing the information they need to tailor a specific combination of pharmaceuticals so that individuals can get bespoke treatment.

But are we maximizing the potential of our technologies, or allowing those seated in power to take a hefty cut of the benefits for their vested interests?

Bernd likened the creation of AI to the discovery of fire. If we could ask the first person to figure out what fire was to predict how vital it would be to the evolution of humanity, they would have no idea how to respond. 

We can only work on what we know. This is why Bernd Stahl recommends looking at AI with continuous reflection and assessment. We need to be capable of seeing how AI is developing and providing our feedback. 

And that’s why your data is worth billions.

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- Are We Really In Control Of Tech Development and Innovation? with Prof. Bernd Stahl by TARTLE is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0