An accessible synthesis of ethical issues raised by artificial intelligence that moves beyond hype and nightmare scenarios to address concrete questions.
Artificial intelligence powers Google's search engine, enables Facebook to target advertising, and allows Alexa and Siri to do their jobs. AI is also behind self-driving cars, predictive policing, and autonomous weapons that can kill without human intervention. These and other AI applications raise complex ethical issues that are the subject of ongoing debate. This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers an accessible synthesis of these issues. Written by a philosopher of technology, AI Ethics goes beyond the usual hype and nightmare scenarios to address concrete questions.
Mark Coeckelbergh describes influential AI narratives, ranging from Frankenstein's monster to transhumanism and the technological singularity. He surveys relevant philosophical discussions: questions about the fundamental differences between humans and machines and debates over the moral status of AI. He explains the technology of AI, describing different approaches and focusing on machine learning and data science. He offers an overview of important ethical issues, including privacy concerns, responsibility and the delegation of decision making, transparency, and bias as it arises at all stages of data science processes. He also considers the future of work in an AI economy. Finally, he analyzes a range of policy proposals and discusses challenges for policymakers. He argues for ethical practices that embed values in design, translate democratic values into practices and include a vision of the good life and the good society.
Author(s): Mark Coeckelbergh
Series: The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series
Edition: 1
Publisher: The MIT Press
Year: 2020
Language: English
Commentary: Vector PDF
Pages: 248
City: Cambridge, MA
Tags: Artificial Intelligence; Philosophy; Data Science; Technological Singularity; Ethics; Privacy; Ecology; Transhumanism
Contents
Series Foreword
Acknowledgments
1: Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall
The AI Hype and Fears: Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who Is the Smartest of Us All?
The Real and Pervasive Impact of AI
The Need to Discuss Ethical and Societal Problems
This Book
2: Superintelligence, Monsters, and the AI Apocalypse
Superintelligence and Transhumanism
Frankenstein’s New Monster
Transcendence and the AI Apocalypse
How to Go beyond Competition Narratives and beyond the Hype
3: All about the Human
Is General AI Possible? Are There Fundamental Differences between Humans and Machines?
Modernity, (Post)humanism, and Postphenomenology
4: Just Machines?
Questioning the Moral Status of AI: Moral Agency and Moral Patiency
Moral Agency
Moral Patiency
Toward More Practical Ethical Issues
5: The Technology
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Different Approaches and Subfields
Applications and Impact
6: Don’t Forget the Data (Science)
Machine Learning
Data Science
Applications
7: Privacy and the Other Usual Suspects
Privacy and Data Protection
Manipulation, Exploitation, and Vulnerable Users
Fake News, the Danger of Totalitarianism, and the Impact on Personal Relationships
Safety and Security
8: A-responsible Machines and Unexplainable Decisions
How Can and Should We Attribute Moral Responsibility?
Transparency and Explainability
9: Bias and the Meaning of Life
Bias
The Future of Work and the Meaning of Life
10: Policy Proposals
What Needs to Be Done and Other Questions Policymakers Have to Answer
Ethical Principles and Justifications
Technological Solutions and the Question of Methods and Operationalization
11: Challenges for Policymakers
Proactive Ethics: Responsible Innovation and Embedding Values in Design
Practice Oriented and Bottom Up: How Can We Translate These to Practice?
Toward a Positive Ethics
Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity
The Risk of an AI Winter and the Danger of the Mindless Use of AI
12: It’s the Climate, Stupid! On Priorities, the Anthropocene, and Elon Musk’s Car in Space
Should AI Ethics Be Human-Centric?
Getting Our Priorities Right
AI, Climate Change, and the Anthropocene
The New Space Craze and the Platonic Temptation
Return to Earth: Toward Sustainable AI
Wanted: Intelligence and Wisdom
Glossary
Notes
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
References
Further Reading
Index
