Artificial Intelligence Social Ethical And Professional Issues

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Artificial Intelligence is the engineering of making intelligent machines such as computer programmes as per John Mc Carthy (1956). (Ref 12) However many of the artificial intelligence researches define artificial intelligence as a study and design of intelligent agents. The study area of artificial intelligence is quite specialized and is also technical. The word intelligence in the context of machines means that machines are able to follow human thoughts and think like human beings. This is a fascinating area of study as it is the creation of machines that can think for themselves and that can perform tasks that only human have been able to do. However, currently technology has not become so advanced for the machines to think for themselves totally. It can soon become a reality given the rapid development in the technological arena.

Examples of artificial intelligence include Robots, Robotic Vehicles and AI software. In today’s world when it comes to use of robots the best example is that Japanese industrial firms are racing to build up humanoid robots to act as domestic helpers for the elderly. Also South Korea has a goal that 100% of households should have domestic robots by 2020. (Ref 13)

When it comes to Robotic Vehicles, DARPA’s has created autonomous vehicle that drives itself across 132 miles of desert terrain. And the US Army’s future combat system program is developing armed robotic vehicles that will support ground troops with direct fire anti-tank weapons. The AIs being used at military are being referred as unmanned air vehicles (UAV’s) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs)

In the context of AI software, as of 2010, half of world stock trades are driven by artificial intelligence based software.

Artificial intelligence is not always about creating machines which imitates human intelligence. AI are also created as tools or rather as programmes which assist human to perform various tasks efficiently. These AI programmes are limited to the subjected intellectual area. An example of such an AI programmes include "Deep Blue", a computer system created by IBM. The purpose of this development was to beat Grandmaster Garry Kasparove in a Chess game. The AI of this programme is limited to chess playing. (Ref 11)

Artificial Intelligence is an area of computer science which is being developed rapidly. There are many books and movies made regarding AI and many theories have evolved. Also it has various ethical professional and social issues and concerns. Thus AI is relevant in the context of Social, Professional and Ethical Issues in Information Systems subject area.

Artificial intelligence is a vast area consisting of various ethical issues. These ethical issues can be categorized into three main types. Those are robot ethics, machine ethics and other ethical consequences. The ethical issues which fall under the robot ethics category include robot rights, threats to privacy and threats to human dignity.

Robot rights are the moral obligations of society towards its machines, similar to human rights. These include the right to life, liberty, freedom of though and equality before the law. This may lead to an ethical issue since there will be a requirement of robot rights governing the above aspects like humans. (Ref 05)

Currently especially Japan and Korea use robots for household activities. As per the article number four of the universal declaration of human rights slavery is prohibited in all forms. Hence LaChat (1986) has stated that use of artificial intelligent machines as a slave can violate the act. It can be argued that machines are built by human to make life easy however from an ethical point of view use of machine to get day to day work done may mean slavery. Hence rights and obligations of society towards intelligent machines such as robots may lead to ethical considerations. (Ref 09)

The other ethical issue under the robot ethics category includes the treat to privacy. If an artificial intelligent program exist that can understand speech and then with adequate processing power it could listen to every phone conversation and read every e mail in the world, understand and report back to the program’s operators exactly what is said and exactly who is saying it. An AI programme of this nature could allow governments or other entities to efficiently suppress dissent and attack their enemies. Further AI surveillance systems which are capable of monitoring human activities using cameras such as instruments used to monitor traffic and robots used to take care of elders may create a threat to human privacy.

Other ethical issue which falls under the category of robot ethics includes the threat to human dignity. Artificial intelligence should not be used to replace people in positions that require respect and care such as customer service representative, therapist, nurse maid for the elderly, judge and police officer as argued by Joseph Weizenbaum in 1967. However given the latest development in this industry one can argue that in the future the above professions will also be given to robots.

Ethical considerations under machines ethics is that the possibility and the extent which computers and robots might be able to acquire any level of autonomy and to what extent they could possibly use those capabilities and what possible threats can that may cause. (Ref 03)

Many theories exist when it comes to other ethical considerations of artificial intelligence. For example Nick Bostrom who is a teacher and a philosopher at Oxford University has stated that artificial intelligence has the capability to bring about human extinction, which is not what the society intends for artificial intelligence to do.

Further Berglas has noted in 2008 that there is no direct evolutionary motivation for an AI to be friendly to humans. AI would have its own evolutionary pressures as it competes with other AOs for computer hardware upon which to run. It is difficult to see how humanity could survive in competition with a more intelligent machine. (Ref 04)

Other ethical issues which arise due to introduction of artificial intelligent machines include the affect it can have on human relationship. Today there are artificial intelligence systems which are able to take care of disabled and elderly people without human intervention. The use of "Smart Homes" is the best example of the same. These provide security and monitoring of health related activities of elderly people at their homes. However, as argued by Sharkey and Sharkey in 2010, this kind of technology may lead to increased social isolation. A system reminding human beings what they need to do people will lose interest of what they would like to do in life? Further AI programmes of this nature can impact the level of privacy as people will be monitored through cameras.

Artificial intelligence is used as robotic armed vehicles which can be used in war. The positive side of this is that it will reduce human casualties during a war. The ethical consideration which can arise in this context is that if the enemies do not have this type of a technology it will lead a battle between human and robots and human be destroyed by an armed robotic AI technology. The ethical problem which can be raised is that is it ethical to use robots for killing of human beings. Killing is anyways unethical activity and cannot be justified.

The introduction of artificial technology has its advantages and disadvantages to the society. When it comes to the discussion of the advantages which this area of study it may lead to creation of new job professions. The robotic Industries Association of USA which is formed since 1974 has approximately 225 companies around the world carried a high workforce related to this industry.

Increased accuracy is another advantage which an artificial intelligence system can generate. Thus various AI software’s are being used in stock trades. The trades and transactions take place without human intervention leading to reduction of human errors. Plus it leads the reduction of human wages cost for stock trading activities.

The disadvantages which AI can generate can be of various types. Even though this area of study has created many professional AI carriers and related workforces, it has led to automation of most of the activities leading to reduction of many human oriented tasks and jobs. Introduction of the AI software "e- discovery" replaced lawyers as the software could be used for analyzing millions of documents and discovery of facts. The job loss can lead to ethical and social implications as unemployment may lead to stealing and other unethical activities of making money in order to survive.

High usage of artificial intelligence technology may lead to environmental pollution. Increased energy consumption for the machines may lead to the same. Non-biodegradable elements of machinery accumulating in the environment will further lead to wastage of resources.

Issues involved with artificial intelligence technology may include cultural differences. Cultural and social norm may differ from one country to another. This will lead different views about artificial intelligence technologies. Hence consideration should be given to the different cultural norms when developing artificial intelligence technologies. As there are religious beliefs exist which prohibits the idea of creating artificial beings.

Consideration of legal background relating to the artificial intelligence industry is very important. There is a safety requirement for industrial robots by the international organization for standardization – ISO 10218-1:2011. This contains features such as elimination of dangerous cabling, simultaneous motion control and software which enables controlling of robotic movements. (Ref 10)

Asimov has put forward three laws on robotics in his science fiction. They are as below; (Ref 01)

The usage of robots for war activities implies that AI is being used for destroying human beings. This violates the first and the second laws denoted above. It implies that current AI technological outcomes are in violation of the laws. Hence whether the human safety is at risk in the future is questionable if the future technological outcomes are in violation of the above laws.

Further the professionals and professional firms involved with development of artificial intelligence programmes or systems need to be responsible to ensure that the creations will not violate any laws and the same will not harm human beings. As per British Computer Society (BCS) code of conduct the code public interest implies that the professionals have a regard for the public health, safety and environment. This is applicable for robotic vehicles usage for war activities. The usage of armed robotic vehicles will violate the code of ethics for public safety.

The professional issues which need consideration in the context of artificial intelligence include that there are no government laws and regulations pertaining to artificial intelligence. Except for the above discussed robotic laws put forwarded by Asimov and the safety requirements as per international standards organization (ISO) there are no government laws and regulations specific to artificial intelligence. Lack of governance of the field may lead to further complications and non-compliances.

Further other professional issues include lack of awareness by the public regarding this field. Thus general public does not seem to be concerned with the advancements in the artificial intelligence field. When it comes to new technological introductions this lack of awareness will become an issue. General public will feel scared to adapt to the latest AI technological products due to the same. Hence this leads to an issue attached to this AI profession.

Another issue attached with the AI profession is that technological advancements especially artificial intelligence technological advancements will be done at the cost of human creativity. Due to the advancements day to day activities would be easy and can be done through using robots. Thus people will not use their creativity to invent new products and technologies. Hence it is important that there is a fine balance in technological advancement between over protection and loss of innovation and creativity.

Another professional issue attached to this field is the compliance to the British Computer Society (BCS) code of ethics. The AI systems such as armed robotic vehicles violates the below code.

Further artificial intelligence adopted surveillance systems which are being used for monitoring activities affects privacy laws. This leads to non-compliance of another code of BCS code of ethics. The code which is at a potential threat of violation is as below;

Thus compliance to BSC code of conduct is a professional issue which has been aroused with the context of artificial intelligence area. It is vital to comply with the above code as IT professionals. Thus when it comes to artificial intelligence related technological innovations it is important to take into considerations of the professional issues such as compliance to code of ethics and other consequences it can cause to the profession as a whole.

Other professional issues which can arise are that AI systems may have a possibility of getting infected by virus or even getting hacked. When AI systems are being used for critical systems such as the systems in the airplane, system crashes may impact human lives destruction also. This affects the public reliability of the AI systems too. Also artificial intelligence systems can be modified. Hence there is a threat of using AI system for unethical purposes.

Various professional and ethical issues and considerations attached to the artificial intelligence subject area have been discussed above. It is also important to consider social issues and implications exist in this field.

Social issues in the AI technology or industry can be of various types. One is that AI applications need to be created to bring harmony to the world rather than which intensify battles. (Ref 07) The best example would be the usage of AI to develop armed robotic vehicles which can be used for war purposes. This has an impact to the society as a whole. Technological advancement need to be created with a view of bringing peace and harmony to the world. When the technology is being used to war related activities this purpose is lost. As war is always an unpleasant activity to the world as a whole. Hence there is a high social impact when the purpose of technological advancements is used for war or other human destruction activities.

Another social issue which can be raised is that when an AI system is introduced it requires the users of the system to understand the limits of the tools and agents (Ref 07). For example if robots are introduced for house hold activities users need to learn and be familiar with the specifications and tools which requires to operate the robot. It is new learning activity for the users which may cause social implications as most of the users will be general public. Hence general public awareness of this field is important.

Further Artificial intelligence raises the bar of information literacy and computer literacy. (Ref 07) This is actually a positive consequence to the society as a whole. When AI programmes and systems are implemented users will be trained and it is a new learning exposure involving information and computer literacy. It enhances the related literacy levels of the people in the society as whole.

In addition to the consideration of ethical, social and professional issues related to artificial intelligence it is also important to consider the legal issues associated with the field. In the context of legal issues associated to this study are two main issues need to be considered. Those are namely liability issues and application of AI to legal systems and processes. (Ref 06)

Liability issues associated with the field may include when humans delegate certain tasks to artificial intelligences who bears the liability if something goes wrong and damages occurs? (Ref 06) This is an important aspect to be considered as when AIs perform tasks which human used to perform and if the task fails or if there is any other issue arises there is no one to take the accountability and no one to bear the liability. Further AI systems have limits such as inability to understand and adapt to new situations. Thus activities performed by humans cannot be fully delegated to AI machines or robots, as there are limitations and liability issues arising of the same.

Also there can be legal consequences when AI is applied to legal systems and processes. (Ref 06) Currently researches and businesses are starting to apply artificial intelligence to the legal systems and processes. There can be legal issues associated with the same given that lack of government laws and regulations governing AIs and the limitations of AI such as inability to adapt to new situations.

The field artificial intelligence is a rapidly developing field and it contains various ethical, professional, social and legal issues. Also it has both positive and negative consequences as discussed in detail above. In summary main ethical issues and consequences in the artificial intelligence subject area include robot rights, machine rights, threats to privacy, and threats to human dignity. Main social consequences include both advantages and disadvantages it generated to the society as a whole. In addition, other social issues include the that AI applications should be created to bring harmony to the world rather than which intensity battles, users need to understand the limits of their tools and agents and AI raises the bar of information literacy and computer literacy. The consequences have been argued in detail in the above. Also this study area includes various professional issues including the lack of government laws and policies pertaining to artificial intelligence, lack of general public awareness and concern over the advancements in this field and balance in technological advancement between over protection and loss of innovation and creativity. Further compliance to BCS code of conduct is also a professional issue which needs to be considered when it comes to artificial intelligence subject area. This is because the some of the AI programs are already in violation with some of the code of ethics in BCS. Also there are legal implications attached to this subject area. These include liability issues and application of AI systems in the government legal processes which may lead to various legal consequences given the fact that there are lack of government laws and regulations governing artificial intelligence.

AI is already been used for most of the human activities and even for war. With the introduction of robots people are being replaced by AI to some extent. In future with the development of humanoid, which scientists are currently working on, AIs will be able to respond to touch. Even though there will be many implications which can arise due to these developments the questions should be asked out aloud now given the fact that existing laws do not fully addresses the current issues raised.

It is true that creation of artificially intelligent machines will indeed help people to be more productive and make life easier, but at the same time consideration should be given to the people who cannot afford this kind of technology or people whose lives will be adversely affected through the technology. The advancements of this industry affect both human and machines in various aspects. It is important to take into consideration of the same and take appropriate measurements to address the issues before the AI advancements change the world with an adverse impact to human race.