A High-Level Overview of AI Ethics

Abstract

AI ethics is a field that has emerged as a response to the growing concern regarding the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). It can be read as a subset of the wider field of digital ethics, which addresses concerns raised by the development and deployment of new digital technologies, such as AI, big data analytics and blockchain technologies. The principle aim of this article is to provide a high-level overview of the field as it stands by introducing basic concepts and sketching approaches and central themes in AI ethics. The first part introduces basic definitions of the terms i.e. defining ‘AI’ and ‘ethics’, etc.; the second part explores some predecessors to AI ethics, namely engineering ethics, philosophy of technology and science and technology studies; the third part discusses three current approaches to AI ethics namely, principles, processes and ethical consciousness; and finally, the fourth part discusses central themes in translating ethics in to engineering practice. We conclude by summary and noting future directions and debates.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Governance, Ethics, Philosophy, Regulation