Threading Innovation, Regulation, and the Mitigation of Ai Harm: Examining Ethics in National AI Strategies

Abstract

This chapter assesses the work that “ethics” do in AI strategies. To do so, it defines national AI strategies and located them in a field of tension between fostering AI innovation and mitigating potential AI harm. It has then analyzes the complicated political work that “ethics” do in and through national AI strategies, outlining risk mitigation, design and deployment concerns, and governance approaches as the three main areas of concern. The chapter lists five limiting factors of over-emphasizing “ethics” in national AI strategies and outlines ten cues that can help develop a more holistic approach for framing the relationship between AI and society, especially in the context of justice.

This book chapter appeared in: Tinnirello, Maurizio. The Global Politics of Artificial Intelligence. Taylor & Francis, 2022.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, ethics, geopolitics