What's Left for Us? AI, Ethics and the Future of Work (original) (raw)
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AI Ethics: Chosen Challenges for Contemporary Societies and Technological Policymaking
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly advancing technology that permeates human life at various levels. It evokes hopes for a better, easier, and more exciting life, while also instilling fears about the future without humans. AI has become part of our daily lives, supporting fields such as medicine, customer service, finance, and justice systems; providing entertainment, and driving innovation across diverse fields of knowledge. Some even argue that we have entered the “AI era.” However, AI is not solely a matter of technological progress. We already witness its positive and negative impact on individuals and societies. Hence, it is crucial to examine the primary challenges posed by AI, which is the subject of AI ethics. In this paper, I present the key challenges that emerged in the literature and require ethical reflection. These include the issues of data privacy and security, the problem of AI biases resulting from social, technical, or socio-technical factors, and the challenges associated with using AI for prediction of human behavior (particularly in the context of the justice system). I also discuss existing approaches to AI ethics within the framework of technological regulations and policymaking, presenting concrete ways in which ethics can be implemented in practice. Drawing on the functioning of other scientific and technological fields, such as gene editing, the development of automobile and aviation industries, I highlight the lessons we can learn from how they function to later apply it to how AI is introduced in societies. In the final part of the paper, I analyze two case studies to illustrate the ethical challenges related to recruitment algorithms and risk assessment tools in the criminal justice system. The objective of this work is to contribute to the sustainable development of AI by promoting human-centered, societal, and ethical approaches to its advancement. Such approach seeks to maximize the benefits derived from AI while simultaneously mitigating its diverse negative consequences.
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2020
Consideration of the intersection of human and technology issues and the influences of each of these is the key issue discussed in this paper. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have provided many situations to contemplate with the numerous impacts on society both positive and negative. These new and innovative functions will bring with them additional questions and many overt and covert ethical considerations. Along with the rise of big data, many believe that we have exceeded our worst fears about giving over control and manipulation of our private information. This leads us to the question whether technologies are empowering us or subjecting us. Technologies are becoming more and more capable of performing tasks previously assigned to humans. In many cases, this is a good thing to eliminate routine human tasks. Even in the preliminary phases of understanding AI, there is an infinite amount of questions and concerns. With these concerns, it is imperative that we consider al...
Politics by Automatic Means? A Critique of Artificial Intelligence Ethics at Work
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 2022
Calls for "ethical Artificial Intelligence" are legion, with a recent proliferation of government and industry guidelines attempting to establish ethical rules and boundaries for this new technology. With few exceptions, they interpret Artificial Intelligence (AI) ethics narrowly in a liberal political framework of privacy concerns, transparency, governance and non-discrimination. One of the main hurdles to establishing "ethical AI" remains how to operationalize high-level principles such that they translate to technology design, development and use in the labor process. This is because organizations can end up interpreting ethics in an ad-hoc way with no oversight, treating ethics as simply another technological problem with technological solutions, and regulations have been largely detached from the issues AI presents for workers. There is a distinct lack of supra-national standards for fair, decent, or just AI in contexts where people depend on and work in tandem with it. Topics such as discrimination and bias in job allocation, surveillance and control in the labor process, and quantification of work have received significant attention, yet questions around AI and job quality and working conditions have not. This has left workers exposed to potential risks and harms of AI. In this paper, we provide a critique of relevant academic literature and policies related to AI ethics. We then identify a set of principles that could facilitate fairer working conditions with AI. As part of a broader research initiative with the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, we propose a set of accountability mechanisms to ensure AI systems foster fairer working conditions. Such processes are aimed at reshaping the social impact of technology from the point of inception to set a research agenda for the future. As such, the key contribution of the paper is how to bridge from abstract ethical principles to operationalizable processes in the vast field of AI and new technology at work.
Ethical Aspects of the Impact of AI: the Status of Humans in the Era of Artificial Intelligence
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On the one hand, AI is a functional tool for emancipating people from routine work tasks, thus expanding the possibilities of their self-realization and the utilization of individual interests and aspirations through more meaningful spending of time. On the other hand, there are undisputable risks associated with excessive machine autonomy and limited human control, based on the insufficient ability to monitor the performance of these systems and to prevent errors or damage (Floridi et al. Minds & Machines 28, 689-707, 2018). In connection with the use of ethical principles in the research and development of artificial intelligence, the question of the social control of science and technology opens out into an analysis of the opportunities and risks that technological progress can mean for security, democracy, environmental sustainability, social ties and community life, value systems, etc. For this reason, it is necessary to identify and analyse the aspects of artificial intelligence that could have the most significant impact on society. The present text is focused on the application of artificial intelligence in the context of the market and service sector, and the related process of exclusion of people from the development, production and distribution of goods and services. Should the application of artificial intelligence be subject to value frameworks, or can the application of AI be sufficiently regulated by the market on its own?
Sociology of Artificial Intelligence: How AI Will Transform Work, Unemployment and Our Future
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Artificial intelligence is one of the hot themes of the current public discussion with accounts associating it with transformations in especially manufacturing sectors which is usually expected to lead to massive unemployment. The public is keen on speculating about which jobs will be made redundant by the rise of AI and ultimately disappear. In addition to factories, the health sector is one of the sites of contestations as many medical tasks are getting automated. Some other scholars do not agree with this panic atmosphere. They claim that like any other industrial transformation, the rise of AI will also create new jobs. Although social implications of the rise of AI are under the spot, it is hard to come up with a single view among various views shared by scholars of various disciplines and strands of research. This article summarizes and elaborates on various positions on the topic, with a sociologically critical perspective, keeping an eye on AI's highly likely role in exacerbating the already biting social inequalities and injustice. The sociology of artificial intelligence is delineated along with the ethical issues raised by the expansion of artificial intelligence in our daily lives, keeping the possibility of a humane artificial intelligence in mind.
The Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) For Meaningful Work
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The increasing workplace use of artificially intelligent (AI) technologies has implications for the experience of meaningful human work. Meaningful work refers to the perception that one’s work has worth, significance, or a higher purpose. The development and organisational deployment of AI is accelerating, but the ways in which this will support or diminish opportunities for meaningful work and the ethical implications of these changes remain under-explored. This conceptual paper is positioned at the intersection of the meaningful work and ethical AI literatures and offers a detailed assessment of the ways in which the deployment of AI can enhance or diminish employees’ experiences of meaningful work. We first outline the nature of meaningful work and draw on philosophical and business ethics accounts to establish its ethical importance. We then explore the impacts of three paths of AI deployment (replacing some tasks, ‘tending the machine’, and amplifying human skills) across five...
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping our world. As AI systems become increasingly autonomous and integrated into various sectors, fundamental ethical issues such as accountability, transparency, bias, and privacy are exacerbated or morph into new forms. This introduction provides an overview of the current ethical landscape of AI. It explores the pressing need to address biases in AI systems, protect individual privacy, ensure transparency and accountability, and manage the broader societal impacts of AI on labour markets, education, and social interactions. It also highlights the global nature of AI's challenges, such as its environmental impact and security risks, stressing the importance of international collaboration and culturally sensitive ethical guidelines. It then outlines three unprecedented challenges AI poses to copyright and intellectual property rights; individual autonomy through AI's "hypersuasion"; and our understanding of authenticity, originality, and creativity through the transformative impact of AI-generated content. The conclusion emphasises the importance of ongoing critical vigilance, imaginative conceptual design, and collaborative efforts between diverse stakeholders to deal with the ethical complexities of AI and shape a sustainable and socially preferable future. It underscores the crucial role of philosophy in identifying and analysing the most significant problems and designing convincing and feasible solutions, calling for a new, engaged, and constructive approach to philosophical inquiry in the digital age.
The Future of Work in the Age of AI
The Oxford Handbook of Ethics of AI, 2020
This chapter examines the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on work and workers. As AI-driven technologies are increasingly integrated into workplaces and labor processes, many have expressed worry about the widespread displacement of human workers. The chapter presents a more nuanced view of the common rhetoric that robots will take over people’s jobs. We contend that economic forecasts of massive AI-induced job loss are of limited practical utility, as they tend to focus solely on technical aspects of task execution, while neglecting broader contextual inquiry about the social components of work, organizational structures, and cross-industry effects. The chapter then considers how AI might impact workers through modes other than displacement. We highlight four mechanisms through which firms are beginning to use AI-driven tools to reallocate risks from themselves to workers: algorithmic scheduling, task redefinition, loss and fraud prediction, and incentivization of productiv...
Unveiling The Potential Of Ai: Impacts On Industries And Ethical Considerations
Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 2024
Background: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely regarded as a transformative tool capable of enhancing business processes, altering societal dynamics, and addressing sustainability challenges. This article explores the diverse positive effects of AI integration across various sectors and the associated challenges. Objectives: To analyze the positive impacts of AI in social, economic, and technical contexts, and to identify the problems it poses. The study aims to provide insights into how AI can optimize decision-making, improve processes, and drive innovation while addressing ethical and regulatory concerns. Methods: A comprehensive review of current literature and data analysis was conducted to examine the application of AI in various sectors, including healthcare, education, transportation, and public service delivery. The study also considers the potential negative consequences of AI, such as job displacement, ethical issues, and environmental impacts. Results: • AI has significantly improved decision-making and optimization in various sectors, leading to smarter supply chains, more effective promotional campaigns, better healthcare diagnostics, and safer transportation systems. • Despite these benefits, AI poses several challenges, including job loss due to automation, ethical concerns related to data privacy and algorithm bias, and environmental issues such as high energy consumption and electronic waste. Discussion: The integration of AI into business and societal processes requires a balanced approach that involves cross-functional stakeholder engagement and ongoing ethical evaluation. Policymakers, industry leaders, and civil society must collaborate to harness AI's potential while mitigating its negative impacts. Conclusions: The advancement of AI offers significant opportunities for societal and economic improvement. However, responsible AI innovation and inclusive decision-making processes are crucial to ensure that the benefits are widely shared and the risks are minimized. Future efforts should focus on promoting sustainable AI practices and addressing ethical and regulatory challenges to achieve a progressive and responsible future for all.
2023
Objective: the spread and wide application of Artificial Intelligence raises ethical questions in addition to data protection measures. That is why the aim of this paper is to examine ethical aspects of Artificial Intelligence and give recommendations for its use in labor law. Methods: research based on the methods of comparative and empirical analysis. Comparative analysis allowed to examine provisions of the modern labor law in the context of use of Artificial Intelligence. Empirical analysis made it possible to highlight the ethical issues related to Artificial Intelligence in the world of work by examining the disputable cases of the use of Artificial Intelligence in different areas, such as healthcare, education, transport, etc. Results: the private law aspects of the ethical issues of Artificial Intelligence were examined in the context of ethical and labor law issues that affect the selection process with Artificial Intelligence and the treatment of employees as a set of data from the employers' side. Author outlined the general aspects of ethics and issues of digital ethics. Author described individual international recommendations related to the ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Scientific novelty:this research focused on the examination of ethical issues of the use of Artificial Intelligence in the specific field of private law-labor law. Authors gave recommendations on ethical aspects of use of Artificial Intelligence in this specific field.