Prolegomena to a White Paper on an Ethical Framework for a Good AI Society

14 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2018

See all articles by Josh Cowls

Josh Cowls

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

Luciano Floridi

Yale University - Digital Ethics Center; University of Bologna- Department of Legal Studies

Date Written: June 19, 2018

Abstract

That AI will have a major impact on society is no longer in question. Current debate turns instead on how far this impact will be positive or negative, for whom, in which ways, in which places, and on what timescale. In order to frame these questions in a more substantive way, in this prolegomena we introduce what we consider the four core opportunities for society offered by the use of AI, four associated risks which could emerge from its overuse or misuse, and the opportunity costs associated with its under use. We then offer a high-level view of the emerging advantages for organisations of taking an ethical approach to developing and deploying AI. Finally, we introduce a set of five principles which should guide the development and deployment of AI technologies. The development of laws, policies and best practices for seizing the opportunities and minimizing the risks posed by AI technologies would benefit from building on ethical frameworks such as the one offered here.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Bioethics, Autonomy, Justice

Suggested Citation

Cowls, Josh and Floridi, Luciano, Prolegomena to a White Paper on an Ethical Framework for a Good AI Society (June 19, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3198732 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3198732

Josh Cowls (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford OX1 3PG Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

Luciano Floridi

Yale University - Digital Ethics Center ( email )

85 Trumbull Street
New Haven, CT CT 06511
United States
2034326473 (Phone)

University of Bologna- Department of Legal Studies ( email )

Via Zamboni 22
Bologna, Bo 40100
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/luciano.floridi/en

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
2,101
Abstract Views
8,232
Rank
12,583
PlumX Metrics