3: AI ethics Flashcards
(14 cards)
What are the similarities between law and ethics?
Both normative: specify how things should be, provide rules and principles that are intented to guide the moral actions, human behavior and how people should act in society
What are the differences between law and ethics?
- How they are created:
Set of institutionalized rules that are primarily externally developed and forced by the government
<=>
Internal principles that guide actions, build up by society over a time and transmitted from generation to the next one
*Enforcement:
Violation is not permitted, punishment
<=>
No binding nature/no punishment - Law is well-understood
<=> no clearly defined rules in ethics - Scope:
Ethics: broader scope, can be related to the smallest things in human behavior (Ex. Is it okay to skip a queue?)
Ethics entering law
- When there is no clear answer of the law due to conflict between laws or lack of specificity
- when new technologies or innovation challenge the law demanding adaptation or new laws
- Legal framework that suggests that stakeholders introduce norms
3 branches of ethics
1) Meta ethics: where do moral comes from? expores the foundation and scope of moral values, attempts to answer the question about the nature of ethical theory
2) Normative ethics: what is moral and immoral? Generates moral standards to study what makes actions/events/consequences right or wrong
3) Applied ethics: examines specific issues and attempts to answer moral questions in practical settings (Ex. what are risks related to AI and how to mitigate them)
3 ethical theories
1) deontology: intention & acts
2) Consequentialism: consequences
3) Communitarism: community and community values
What is deontology
- Deon: responsibility and obligation
- Assesses morality of behavior for reasons that are NOT purely based on consequences => moral behavior cannot be justified on utility maximization or consequences but on the type of the action
- Nature of the action determines the morality of the action
= Quality of the action determines the action itself - Action that is morally wrong = action that does not conform to a moral responsability
- Plurality of principles: duties, obligations, commandments, you cannot do things that are inhibited
○ Ex. Action obeying he 10 commandments, universal human rights determine the morality of the action
==> Universally and culturally dependent
What are the limitations of deontology?
- What happens with conflicts between inalienable values (onvervreemdbare waarden, like cultural differences)
- Intrinsic values that are individual
○ Sen: What if absolute respect for property right leads to famine (hongersnood)? Property right incompatible with right to life => should you then continue to respect right to property?
○ Kant: to protect an essential value you must sometimes be willing to give up other less essential rights or values Vb. Absolute respect for nature, protect AIDS virus as hard as tigers, rhinos and pandas? - Not everyone always holds themselves to the highest standard and not everyone honors the same highest values
Conclusion: absolute nature of deontology too rigid
==> deontological ethics with absolute values, rights and duties will fail if they conflict with each other, and conflict comes because not everyone honors the same highest values
Explain the trolley problem in terms of deontology and consequentialism
- Situation 1: streetcar en route to 5 children, but you can choose to divert it to track with 1 person by pulling lever
=> people choose to save 5 children - Situation 2: streetcar en route to 5 children, can be stopped by pushing fat gentleman off bridge
=> people do not push the man
Deontology: difference between turning the lever and sacrificing a life, => situation 1: the death of one is not the intention (not murder) and an unfortunate consequence
=> situation 2: murder is the intention -> comes close to our fundamental principles ‘thou shalt not kill’
Consequentialism: both situations 5 save people, there is no difference in the morality of the act => fact that you sacrifice man does not outweigh the lives you can save
What is consequentialism
Goodness of acts depends on the goodness of the consequences: the better the consequences, the more moral the act
=> we cannot determine morality of action without knowing which consequences are good and which are bad
=> no clear answer to this: if you find a goal valuable, make choices that realize the goal as much as possible
What is utilitarsm?
- Variant of consequentialism
- Measure to evaluate morality of actions: utility maximization, degree to which consequences cause pleasure, pain, welfare…
=> greatest utility for greatest number
=> society centered - Utilitarian calculus: balancing act between pro and contra arguments and take into account the benefits and the harms
=> Collective utilitarianism: collective consequences are central, but who holds part of this collectivity? Family, neighborhood, people, country, humanity, present generation, future generations?
<=> Individual utilitarianism: action is good if the utility consequences for myself are maximized (cannot be considered ethical theory)
What are the limitations of consequentialism?
- No consideration of distribution of utility: Vb. Divide inheritance among 3 children (disabled, ambitious so wants a lot, always satisfied)
=> What do you do? Utilitarian gives most to ambitious because it generates more utility than the easy child (who is also satisfied without anything) and disabled (not satisfied even with many resources)
<=> moral intuition: equal distribution or give disabled person most - What constitutes utility or welfare, and how can it be determined?
○ Act utilitarism: looks at the principal of utility => ask whether an action brings the greatest utility to the greatest amount of people => if it does, than the action is moral
<=> Rule utilitarism: rules, a rule is morally right if it creates the greatest outcome for the greatest amount of people => rules build the moral standard
What is communitarism?
- Connection between individuals and community
- Every person is a part of a community => focus on the collective responsability for the common good
- Individuals have obligations towards eachother
- Interest of society determines individuals right
- Individual’s personal value is not of primary moral significance, but the common value is what is morally relevant
- Morality finds its foundation in the practices and the traditions of the community => follow social norm
Community?
Based on geographic location
What are the limitations of communitarism?
- significance to traditions which can result in conservative tendencies
- common good <=> individual rights
What is principalism?
Recognition that there are several ethical principles that are important to consider and balance
4 principles:
* beneficence: actively and positively contribute to people’s well-being and welfare
* non-maleficence: to not inflict harm on others
* autonomy: need to respect an individual’s choices and to not interfere with the decision-making process of their actions
* justice: fairness, providing equal and just opportunities
