Brave: what it means to be an AI Ethicist
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OPINION PAPER
Brave: what it means to be an AI Ethicist Olivia Gambelin1 Received: 23 September 2020 / Accepted: 25 September 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Despite there being a strong call for responsible technology, the path towards putting ethics into action is still yet to be fully understood. To help guide the implementation of ethics, we have seen the rise of a new professional title; the AI Ethicist. However, it is still unclear what the role and skill set of this new profession must include. The purpose of this piece is to offer a preliminary definition of what it means to be an AI Ethicist by first examining the concept of an ethicist in the context of artificial intelligence, followed by exploring what responsibilities are added to the role in industry specifically, and ending on the fundamental characteristic that underlies it all: bravery. Keywords AI Ethics · Ethical decision making · Bravery · Artificial intelligence
1 Introduction You pause, hand on the door, to take a deep breath and run the talking points through your mind one last time before entering the room. On the other side of that door sits the board of directors, waiting patiently for your report on the ethical risks of a new AI system they are hoping to start developing, since it promises to turn a significant profit for the company. However, your ethical analysis of the proposed system has uncovered serious issues that would put the company at high risk for violating cultural values, while also destroying the reputation of the company in the process. You have prepared your report with meticulous detail, knowing full well that you will have to present an air-tight counter argument to the proposed AI system if you are to be heard. Even with the facts to back you up, you are aware that your points may jeopardize such an enormous profit and so could fall on deaf ears. Or worse, you may get through but trigger a negative reaction, resulting in your own dismissal. Being heard is only half the battle, because it does not matter if your argument gets through or not if no actions come out of it. What if the board hears you but still decides to go through with development? You are fully aware of this possibility, and that you will be blamed for when things go wrong even
* Olivia Gambelin [email protected] 1
Ethical Intelligence Associates, Edinburgh, Scotland
though you were the one that warned against it from the beginning. With all of these thoughts and fears running through your mind, you stop to remind yourself of why you are here in the first place. You are an AI Ethicist and this situation, as stacked against you as the odds may seem, is the exact place that you are needed most. You were hired based on your skillset in ethics to be the voice in the room that says no when everyone else is silenced by a profit margin. But, as these kinds of moments prove to you time and time again, no amount of training, knowledge, or experience will matter if you are not brave enough to step into that room and open
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