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56The AI gambit: leveraging artificial intelligence to combat climate change—opportunities, challenges, and recommendationsAI and Society 38 (1): 283-307. 2023.In this article, we analyse the role that artificial intelligence (AI) could play, and is playing, to combat global climate change. We identify two crucial opportunities that AI offers in this domain: it can help improve and expand current understanding of climate change, and it can contribute to combatting the climate crisis effectively. However, the development of AI also raises two sets of problems when considering climate change: the possible exacerbation of social and ethical challenges alr…Read more
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16Open source intelligence and AI: a systematic review of the GELSI literatureAI and Society 1-16. forthcoming.Today, open source intelligence (OSINT), i.e., information derived from publicly available sources, makes up between 80 and 90 percent of all intelligence activities carried out by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and intelligence services in the West. Developments in data mining, machine learning, visual forensics and, most importantly, the growing computing power available for commercial use, have enabled OSINT practitioners to speed up, and sometimes even automate, intelligence collection and …Read more
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29The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: In Search of Enaction, at Risk of InactionMinds and Machines 33 (2): 285-292. 2023.The US is promoting a new vision of a “Good AI Society” through its recent AI Bill of Rights. This offers a promising vision of community-oriented equity unique amongst peer countries. However, it leaves the door open for potential rights violations. Furthermore, it may have some federal impact, but it is non-binding, and without concrete legislation, the private sector is likely to ignore it.
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69The Switch, the Ladder, and the Matrix: Models for Classifying AI SystemsMinds and Machines 33 (1): 221-248. 2023.Organisations that design and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) systems increasingly commit themselves to high-level, ethical principles. However, there still exists a gap between principles and practices in AI ethics. One major obstacle organisations face when attempting to operationalise AI Ethics is the lack of a well-defined material scope. Put differently, the question to which systems and processes AI ethics principles ought to apply remains unanswered. Of course, there exists no univers…Read more
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66Artificial intelligence in support of the circular economy: ethical considerations and a path forwardAI and Society 1-14. forthcoming.The world’s current model for economic development is unsustainable. It encourages high levels of resource extraction, consumption, and waste that undermine positive environmental outcomes. Transitioning to a circular economy (CE) model of development has been proposed as a sustainable alternative. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a crucial enabler for CE. It can aid in designing robust and sustainable products, facilitate new circular business models, and support the broader infrastructures need…Read more
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Perception and testimony as data providersIn Fidelia Ibekwe-SanJuan & Thomas Mark Dousa (eds.), Theories of information, communication and knowledge: a multidisciplinary approach, Springer. 2014.
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3The Ethics of Biomedical Big Data (edited book)Imprint: Springer. 2016.This book presents cutting edge research on the new ethical challenges posed by biomedical Big Data technologies and practices. 'Biomedical Big Data' refers to the analysis of aggregated, very large datasets to improve medical knowledge and clinical care. The book describes the ethical problems posed by aggregation of biomedical datasets and re-use/re-purposing of data, in areas such as privacy, consent, professionalism, power relationships, and ethical governance of Big Data platforms. Approach…Read more
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27Group Privacy: New Challenges of Data Technologies (edited book)Imprint: Springer. 2017.The goal of the book is to present the latest research on the new challenges of data technologies. It will offer an overview of the social, ethical and legal problems posed by group profiling, big data and predictive analysis and of the different approaches and methods that can be used to address them. In doing so, it will help the reader to gain a better grasp of the ethical and legal conundrums posed by group profiling. The volume first maps the current and emerging uses of new data technologi…Read more
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5Replies to Broy, Gabriel, Grunwald, Hagengruber, Kriebitz, Lütge, Max, Misselhorn, and RehbeinPhilosophisches Jahrbuch 128 (2): 378-393. 2021.
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96The epistemological foundations of data science: a critical reviewSynthese 200 (6): 1-27. 2022.The modern abundance and prominence of data have led to the development of “data science” as a new field of enquiry, along with a body of epistemological reflections upon its foundations, methods, and consequences. This article provides a systematic analysis and critical review of significant open problems and debates in the epistemology of data science. We propose a partition of the epistemology of data science into the following five domains: (i) the constitution of data science; (ii) the kind…Read more
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63Meta’s Oversight Board: A Review and Critical AssessmentMinds and Machines 33 (2): 261-284. 2023.Since the announcement and establishment of the Oversight Board (OB) by the technology company Meta as an independent institution reviewing Facebook and Instagram’s content moderation decisions, the OB has been subjected to scholarly scrutiny ranging from praise to criticism. However, there is currently no overarching framework for understanding the OB’s various strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, this article analyses, organises, and supplements academic literature, news articles, and Meta …Read more
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29Smart cities: reviewing the debate about their ethical implicationsAI and Society 1-16. forthcoming.This paper considers a host of definitions and labels attached to the concept of smart cities to identify four dimensions that ground a review of ethical concerns emerging from the current debate. These are: network infrastructure, with the corresponding concerns of control, surveillance, and data privacy and ownership; post-political governance, embodied in the tensions between public and private decision-making and cities as post-political entities; social inclusion, expressed in the aspects o…Read more
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54The US Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2022 vs. The EU Artificial Intelligence Act: what can they learn from each other?Minds and Machines 32 (4): 751-758. 2022.On the whole, the US Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2022 (US AAA) is a pragmatic approach to balancing the benefits and risks of automated decision systems. Yet there is still room for improvement. This commentary highlights how the US AAA can both inform and learn from the European Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AIA).
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1736Accountability in Artificial Intelligence: What It Is and How It WorksAI and Society 1 1-12. 2023.Accountability is a cornerstone of the governance of artificial intelligence (AI). However, it is often defined too imprecisely because its multifaceted nature and the sociotechnical structure of AI systems imply a variety of values, practices, and measures to which accountability in AI can refer. We address this lack of clarity by defining accountability in terms of answerability, identifying three conditions of possibility (authority recognition, interrogation, and limitation of power), and an…Read more
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10Artificial evil and the foundation of computer ethicsEthics and Information Technology 3 (1): 55-66. 2001.Moral reasoning traditionally distinguishes two types of evil:moral and natural. The standard view is that ME is the product of human agency and so includes phenomena such as war, torture and psychological cruelty; that NE is the product of nonhuman agency, and so includes natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, disease and famine; and finally, that more complex cases are appropriately analysed as a combination of ME and NE. Recently, as a result of developments in autonomousagents in cyb…Read more
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68Artificial intelligence with American values and Chinese characteristics: a comparative analysis of American and Chinese governmental AI policiesAI and Society 39 (1): 257-278. 2024.As China and the United States strive to be the primary global leader in AI, their visions are coming into conflict. This is frequently painted as a fundamental clash of civilisations, with evidence based primarily around each country’s current political system and present geopolitical tensions. However, such a narrow view claims to extrapolate into the future from an analysis of a momentary situation, ignoring a wealth of historical factors that influence each country’s prevailing philosophy of…Read more
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28Local Explanations via Necessity and Sufficiency: Unifying Theory and PracticeMinds and Machines 32 (1): 185-218. 2022.Necessity and sufficiency are the building blocks of all successful explanations. Yet despite their importance, these notions have been conceptually underdeveloped and inconsistently applied in explainable artificial intelligence, a fast-growing research area that is so far lacking in firm theoretical foundations. In this article, an expanded version of a paper originally presented at the 37th Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, we attempt to fill this gap. Building on work in …Read more
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19AI and Its New Winter: From Myths to RealitiesIn Josh Cowls & Jessica Morley (eds.), The 2020 Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab, Springer Verlag. pp. 53-55. 2021.The prospect of another AI winter means we must think deeply and extensively on what we are doing and planning with AI, argues Luciano Floridi.
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13Ethical Foresight Analysis: What It Is and Why It Is Needed?In Josh Cowls & Jessica Morley (eds.), The 2020 Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab, Springer Verlag. pp. 173-194. 2021.An increasing number of technology firms are implementing processes to identify and evaluate the ethical risks of their systems and products. A key part of these review processes is to foresee potential impacts of these technologies on different groups of users. In this chapter, we use the expression Ethical Foresight Analysis to refer to a variety of analytical strategies for anticipating or predicting the ethical issues that new technological artefacts, services, and applications may raise. Th…Read more
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6Ethical Guidelines for SARS-CoV-2 Digital Tracking and Tracing SystemsIn Josh Cowls & Jessica Morley (eds.), The 2020 Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab, Springer Verlag. pp. 89-95. 2021.The World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on 11th March 2020, recognising that the underlying SARS-CoV-2 has caused the greatest global crisis since World War II. In this chapter, we present a framework to evaluate whether and to what extent the use of digital systems that track and/or trace potentially infected individuals is not only legal but also ethical.
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8How to Design a Governable Digital Health EcosystemIn Josh Cowls & Jessica Morley (eds.), The 2020 Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab, Springer Verlag. pp. 69-88. 2021.It has been suggested that to overcome the challenges facing the UK’s National Health Service of an ageing population and reduced available funding, the NHS should be transformed into a more informationally mature and heterogeneous organisation, reliant on data-based and algorithmically-driven interactions between human, artificial, and hybrid agents. This transformation process would offer significant benefit to patients, clinicians, and the overall system, but it would also rely on a fundament…Read more
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10Algorithmic Fairness in Mortgage Lending: From Absolute Conditions to Relational Trade-offsIn Josh Cowls & Jessica Morley (eds.), The 2020 Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab, Springer Verlag. pp. 145-171. 2021.To address the rising concern that algorithmic decision-making may reinforce discriminatory biases, researchers have proposed many notions of fairness and corresponding mathematical formalizations. Each of these notions is often presented as a one-size-fits-all, absolute condition; however, in reality, the practical and ethical trade-offs are unavoidable and more complex. We introduce a new approach that considers fairness—not as a binary, absolute mathematical condition—but rather, as a relatio…Read more
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16The Explanation Game: A Formal Framework for Interpretable Machine LearningIn Josh Cowls & Jessica Morley (eds.), The 2020 Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab, Springer Verlag. pp. 109-143. 2021.We propose a formal framework for interpretable machine learning. Combining elements from statistical learning, causal interventionism, and decision theory, we design an idealised explanation game in which players collaborate to find the best explanation for a given algorithmic prediction. Through an iterative procedure of questions and answers, the players establish a three-dimensional Pareto frontier that describes the optimal trade-offs between explanatory accuracy, simplicity, and relevance.…Read more
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17Artificial Intelligence Crime: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Foreseeable Threats and SolutionsIn Josh Cowls & Jessica Morley (eds.), The 2020 Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab, Springer Verlag. pp. 195-227. 2021.Artificial Intelligence research and regulation seek to balance the benefits of innovation against any potential harms and disruption. However, one unintended consequence of the recent surge in AI research is the potential re-orientation of AI technologies to facilitate criminal acts, term in this chapter AI-Crime. AIC is theoretically feasible thanks to published experiments in automating fraud targeted at social media users, as well as demonstrations of AI-driven manipulation of simulated mark…Read more
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42Ethics, Governance, and Policies in Artificial Intelligence (edited book)Springer Verlag. 2021.This book offers a synthesis of investigations on the ethics, governance and policies affecting the design, development and deployment of artificial intelligence. Each chapter can be read independently, but the overall structure of the book provides a complementary and detailed understanding of some of the most pressing issues brought about by AI and digital innovation. Given its modular nature, it is a text suitable for readers who wish to gain a reliable orientation about the ethics of AI and …Read more
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