scholarly journals The future of AI in our hands? To what extent are we as individuals morally responsible for guiding the development of AI in a desirable direction?

AI and Ethics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Persson ◽  
Maria Hedlund

AbstractArtificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly influential in most people’s lives. This raises many philosophical questions. One is what responsibility we have as individuals to guide the development of AI in a desirable direction. More specifically, how should this responsibility be distributed among individuals and between individuals and other actors? We investigate this question from the perspectives of five principles of distribution that dominate the discussion about responsibility in connection with climate change: effectiveness, equality, desert, need, and ability. Since much is already written about these distributions in that context, we believe much can be gained if we can make use of this discussion also in connection with AI. Our most important findings are: (1) Different principles give different answers depending on how they are interpreted but, in many cases, different interpretations and different principles agree and even strengthen each other. If for instance ‘equality-based distribution’ is interpreted in a consequentialist sense, effectiveness, and through it, ability, will play important roles in the actual distributions, but so will an equal distribution as such, since we foresee that an increased responsibility of underrepresented groups will make the risks and benefits of AI more equally distributed. The corresponding reasoning is true for need-based distribution. (2) If we acknowledge that someone has a certain responsibility, we also have to acknowledge a corresponding degree of influence for that someone over the matter in question. (3) Independently of which distribution principle we prefer, ability cannot be dismissed. Ability is not fixed, however and if one of the other distributions is morally required, we are also morally required to increase the ability of those less able to take on the required responsibility.

2018 ◽  
Vol 04 (02) ◽  
pp. 241-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
You Wang ◽  
Dingding Chen

Both China and the United States are international leaders in artificial intelligence (AI). Although there remains a significant gap between them in cutting-edge technologies, and they have adopted different methods of planning and implementation, both countries have been mobilizing national resources and formulating policies to promote AI development, so as to achieve a strategic advantage over the other, especially against the backdrop of ever more intense and complicated strategic competition between them in recent years. As an epitome of their changing relationship, Sino-U.S. competition in AI development is manifested in economic, political, security, technological and other fields. It is expected that artificial intelligence will become an even more important field of competition between China and the United States, and that the trends of AI development and competition will to some extent determine the future dynamics of their bilateral relations.


Author(s):  
Alan Cribb

This concluding chapter asks how health policy needs to change character in the light of the transitions and tensions reviewed in the book. The emphasis in health policy has to move more decisively from a delivery model to a deliberative model of healthcare; or, in other words, from an assumed model of ‘top-down’ service provision towards a more diffused and democratic model. Moreover, the philosophical transition explored in the book should, in part, be seen as a transition towards philosophy, because philosophical questions are now manifestly at the centre of healthcare debate and activity. The chapter then presents some substantive conclusions about the key balancing acts that need to be struck in shaping the future of healthcare, including the balance between the responsibilities of policy makers and professionals, on the one hand, and the collective responsibility of patients and publics, on the other.


Author(s):  
Andreas Fügener ◽  
Jörn Grahl ◽  
Alok Gupta ◽  
Wolfgang Ketter

A consensus is beginning to emerge that the next phase of artificial intelligence (AI) induction in business organizations will require humans to work with AI in a variety of work arrangements. This article explores the issues related to human capabilities to work with AI. A key to working in many work arrangements is the ability to delegate work to entities that can do them most efficiently. Modern AI can do a remarkable job of efficient delegation to humans because it knows what it knows well and what it does not. Humans, on the other hand, are poor judges of their metaknowledge and are not good at delegating knowledge work to AI—this might prove to be a big stumbling block to create work environments where humans and AI work together. Humans have often created machines to serve them. The sentiment is perhaps exemplified by Oscar Wilde’s statement that “civilization requires slaves…. Human slavery is wrong, insecure and demoralizing. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends.” However, the time has come when humans might switch roles with machines. Our study highlights capabilities that humans need to effectively work with AI and still be in control rather than just being directed.


Author(s):  
James A. Anderson

Hand axes, language, and computers are tools that increase our ability to deal with the world. Computing is a cognitive tool and comes in several kinds: digital, analog, and brain-like. An analog telephone connects two telephones with a wire. Talking causes a current to flow on the wire. In a digital telephone the voltage is converted into groups of ones or zeros and sent at high speed from one telephone to the other. An analog telephone requires one simple step. A digital telephone requires several million discrete steps per second. Digital telephones work because the hardware has gotten much faster. Yet brains constructed of slow devices and using a few watts of power are competitive for many cognitive tasks. The important question is not why machines are becoming so smart but why humans are still so good. Artificial intelligence is missing something important probably based on hardware differences.


2011 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 164-185
Author(s):  
Vincent Blok ◽  

In the twentieth century, the concept of the will appears in bad daylight. Martin Heideg-ger for instance criticizes the will as a movement of reducing otherness to sameness, dif-ference to identity. Since his diagnosis of the will, the releasement from a wilful manner of thinking and the exploration of the possibility of non-willing has become a prevalent issue in contemporary philosophy. This article questions whether this quietism is still possible in our times, were we are confronted with climate change and the future of mankind is fundamentally threatened. On the one hand, the human will to 'master‘ and 'exploit‘ the natural world can be seen as the root of the ecological crisis, as Heidegger observed. On the other hand, its current urgency forces us to evaluate the releasement of the will in contemporary philosophy. Because also Heidegger himself attempted to develop a proper concept of the will in the onset of the thirties, we start our inquiry with Heidegger‘s phenomenology of the will in the thirties. Although Heidegger was very critical about the concept of the will later on, we are not inclined to reject the concept of the will as he did eventually. In this article we show that Heidegger's criticism of the will is not phenomenologically motivated, and we will develop a proper post-Heideggerian concept of willing. Finally the question will be answerd whether this proper concept of willing can help us to find a solution for the ecological crisis.


2021 ◽  
pp. 377-380
Author(s):  
Lynn E. Long ◽  
Gregory A. Lang ◽  
Clive Kaiser

Abstract This chapter provides information on significant contribution of various advances in horticultural production technologies, including electronic sensing, autonomous orchard equipment, machine learning and artificial intelligence and robotics to future cherry production trends. New challenges due to invasive species, climate change and the ever unpredictable geopolitical landscape are also discussed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 87 (06) ◽  
pp. 755-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Aubin ◽  
C.M. Garbe ◽  
S. Colombo ◽  
C.R. Drever ◽  
D.W. McKenney ◽  
...  

Assisted migration has been proposed as one tool to reduce some of the negative ecological consequences of climate change. The idea is to move species to locations that could better suit them climatically in the future. Although humanmediated movements are not a recent phenomenon, assisted migration has lately been the source of debate, in particular within conservation biology circles. In this paper, we outline the major perspectives that help define differing views on assisted migration and shed some light on the ethical roots of the debate in the context of Canadian forests. We emphasize that there are many different forms of assisted migration, each responding to different (often unstated) objectives and involving unique risks and benefits, thus making the debate more nuanced than often portrayed. We point out certain seeming contradictions whereby the same argument may be used to both support and oppose assisted migration. The current debate on assisted migration primarily focuses on ecological risks and benefits; however, numerous uncertainties reduce our capacity to quantitatively assess these outcomes. In fact, much of the debate can be traced back to fundamental perspectives on nature, particularly to the ethical question of whether to deliberately manage natural systems or allow them to adapt on their own. To facilitate discussion, we suggest that the focus should move towards a clearer identification of values and objectives for assisted migration.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Creig Lamb ◽  
Sarah Doyle

There are a number of major trends that have the potential to shape the future of work, from climate change and resource scarcity to demographic shifts resulting from an aging population and immigration. This report focuses on the need to prepare Canada’s youth for a future where a great number of jobs will be rapidly created, altered or made obsolete by technology. Successive waves of technological advancements have rocked global economies for centuries, reconfiguring the labour force and giving rise to new economic opportunities with each wave. Modern advances, including artificial intelligence and robotics, once again have the potential to transform the economy, perhaps more rapidly and more dramatically than ever before. As past pillars of Canada’s economic growth become less reliable, harnessing technology and innovation will become increasingly important in driving productivity and growth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-46
Author(s):  
Pertti Grönholm ◽  
Kimi Kärki

Artikkelin kirjoittajat tutkivat kolmea tieteiselokuvaa: 2001: Avaruusseikkailu, Pimeä tähti ja Alien – kahdeksas matkustaja, joiden yksi keskeisistä teemoista on älykkään koneen ja ihmisen välinen vuorovaikutus. Kirjoittajat erittelevät elokuvien ihmisten ja koneiden muodostamia suljettuja yhteisöjä, erityisesti keinoälyn ja miehistön suhteita ja dialogia. Kirjoittajat tarkastelevat elokuvia yhtäältä tekijälähtöisesti, keskittyen niiden tulevaisuuskuviin sisältyviin kysymyksiin, varoituksiin ja uhkakuviin sekä toisaalta tarkastelemalla keinoälytematiikkaa suhteessa elokuvien omaan historialliseen kontekstiin.Keinoälytematiikan kautta elokuvantekijät ovat käsitelleet laajoja kysymyksiä, jotka liittyvät ihmisyyden eri puoliin, kuten tiedonjanoon ja uteliaisuuteen, ihmislajin ekspansiivisuuteen, taloudelliseen hyödyn tavoitteluun, väkivaltaisuuteen ja sosiaalisiin valtasuhteisiin. Samalla elokuvat esittävät kysymyksiä koneiden ja ihmisten rajojen hämärtymisestä, toiseuden kokemuksista sekä keinoälyyn liitetyistä pelon, pyhyyden ja kiehtovuuden ja ylevän teemoista.In space, even the machine doesn't hear your scream. The human-AI dialogue in three science fiction films of 1968-1979Grönholm and Kärki research three science fiction films: 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968), Dark Star (John Carpenter, 1974), and Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979). They all contain the interaction of the intelligent machine and human as one of their central themes. In particular, the authors analyse the closed communities of the space ships, focusing on the relations and dialogue between the human crew and the Artificial Intelligence (AI). Special emphasis is given to the intentions of the filmmakers – both directors and screenplay writers – and how the questions, warnings and threats about the future were envisioned in each film. On the other hand, the theme of AI itself is also historically contextualized.Furthermore, the authors consider the wider questions these films ask about the nature of humanity: thirst for knowledge, curiosity, expansion of our species, reach for profit, violence, and social hierarchies. Simultaneously, these films also seem to ask questions about the blurring of the boundaries between the human and machine, experiences of otherness, and feelings of fear, sacral, fascination, and sublime that are associated with the AI.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-246

The author takes on two interrelated tasks. The first is to justify the philosophy of history as an intellectual enterprise for the modern era and one which is dedicated to finding a positive meaning in the changes that occur within humanity as it moves from the past toward the future. The viability of that enterprise has been called into question by the catastrophes of the twentieth century. The second task is to propose a new concept of historical temporality instead of the “processual” one that was discredited in the previous century. Simon maintains that we are now living in a period similar to the “saddle time” (from 1750 to 1850) described by Reinhart Koselleck. The difference between that period and the current one lies in the replacement of the “processual” temporality that was established in that earlier time by an “evental” temporality, whose structure this article is intended to explain. The future plays a key role in the structure of evental temporality. The future no longer denotes the perspective that maps out the direction of historical changes but is instead synonymous with changes as such — changes so radical that the continued existence of mankind within its former ecological, biological and physiological boundaries is at stake. The author illustrates these changes with references to bioengineering, artificial intelligence, anthropogenic climate change, etc. Expectations about these changes are utopian and dystopian at the same time and can feed one’s wildest hopes and fantasies as well as inspire the darkest fears and dreads. In any case, these changes themselves are in no way determined by the previous course of history. The future they point to undermines the continuity of human experience because it is completely independent of the past.


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