Critically engaging the ethics of AI for a global audience
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Critically engaging the ethics of AI for a global audience Samuel T. Segun1
© Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract This article introduces readers to the special issue on Selected Issues in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. In this paper, I make a case for a wider outlook on the ethics of AI. So far, much of the engagements with the subject have come from EuroAmerican scholars with obvious influences from Western epistemic traditions. I demonstrate that socio-cultural features influence our conceptions of ethics and in this case the ethics of AI. The goal of this special issue is to entertain more diverse views, particularly those from Africa; it brings together six articles addressing pertinent issues in the ethics of AI. These articles address topics around artificial moral agency, patiency, personhood, social robotics, and the principle of explicability. These works offer unique contributions for and from an African perspective. I contend that a wider engagement with the ethics of AI is worthwhile as we anticipate a global deployment of artificial intelligence systems. Keywords Ethics of AI · Africa · Artificial intelligence · Afro-ethics · Utilitarianism · Kantianism
Introduction With a focus on selected issues in the ethics of AI, I contend that one of such issues, and a very pressing one at that, is the marginalisation of non-western knowledge systems in the study of AI ethics. As our world becomes more interconnected, it is evident that in every corner of world knowledge systems exist that may differ, sometimes significantly, from the predominant epistemic tradition. Unfortunately, little has been done to bridge this gap or take into consideration culture and context thereby perpetuating epistemic injustice. This injustice becomes palpable when we see discourses around digital and AI ethics skewed toward presenting Western ideals, problems, and solutions as prima facie disposition of the field. Although there is some basis to this as much of the advancements made in the field of AI have come from the West. However, with a possible global adoption of this technology, it becomes expedient to have a wider representation of ethics that accounts for diverse ethos and contexts. Value systems differ across cultures. Birhane (2020) notes that “…Certain matters that are considered critical problems in some societies may not be considered so in other * Samuel T. Segun [email protected] 1
Department of Philosophy, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
societies” (395). For this reason, an intercultural approach to the ethics of AI should inform the formation of policies and guidelines to regulate the design and use of AI. To this end, there have been recent calls for a more inclusive and intercultural look on ethics for its use in artificial intelligence systems (AIS). This is because of the growing awareness of the need for a global perspective on ethics if we intend to deploy AIS globally. One such call was made by the IEEE’s Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous Intell
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