•  1457
    The ethics of algorithms: key problems and solutions
    with Andreas Tsamados, Nikita Aggarwal, Josh Cowls, Jessica Morley, Huw Roberts, and Luciano Floridi
    AI and Society. 2021.
    Research on the ethics of algorithms has grown substantially over the past decade. Alongside the exponential development and application of machine learning algorithms, new ethical problems and solutions relating to their ubiquitous use in society have been proposed. This article builds on a review of the ethics of algorithms published in 2016, 2016). The goals are to contribute to the debate on the identification and analysis of the ethical implications of algorithms, to provide an updated anal…Read more
  •  921
    This article analyses the ethical aspects of multistakeholder recommendation systems (RSs). Following the most common approach in the literature, we assume a consequentialist framework to introduce the main concepts of multistakeholder recommendation. We then consider three research questions: who are the stakeholders in a RS? How are their interests taken into account when formulating a recommendation? And, what is the scientific paradigm underlying RSs? Our main finding is that multistakeholde…Read more
  •  3530
    Healthcare systems across the globe are struggling with increasing costs and worsening outcomes. This presents those responsible for overseeing healthcare with a challenge. Increasingly, policymakers, politicians, clinical entrepreneurs and computer and data scientists argue that a key part of the solution will be ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) – particularly Machine Learning (ML). This argument stems not from the belief that all healthcare needs will soon be taken care of by “robot doctors.” In…Read more
  •  25
    Is Cybersecurity a Public Good?
    Minds and Machines 29 (3): 349-354. 2019.
  •  1819
    How to design AI for social good: seven essential factors
    with Luciano Floridi, Josh Cowls, and Thomas C. King
    Science and Engineering Ethics 26 (3). 2020.
    The idea of artificial intelligence for social good is gaining traction within information societies in general and the AI community in particular. It has the potential to tackle social problems through the development of AI-based solutions. Yet, to date, there is only limited understanding of what makes AI socially good in theory, what counts as AI4SG in practice, and how to reproduce its initial successes in terms of policies. This article addresses this gap by identifying seven ethical factor…Read more
  •  24
    This book presents 12 essays that focus on the analysis of the problems prompted by cyber operations. It clarifies and discusses the ethical and regulatory problems raised by the deployment of cyber capabilities by a state’s army to inflict disruption or damage to an adversary’s targets in or through cyberspace. Written by world-leading philosophers, ethicists, policy-makers, and law and military experts, the essays cover such topics as the conceptual novelty of COs and the ethical problems that…Read more
  •  28
    Deterrence and Norms to Foster Stability in Cyberspace
    Philosophy and Technology 31 (3): 323-329. 2018.
    Deterrence in cyberspace is possible. But it requires an effort to develop a new domain-specific, conceptual, normative, and strategic framework. To be successful, cyber deterrence needs to shift from threatening to prevailing. I argue that by itself, deterrence is insufficient to ensure stability of cyberspace. An international regime of norms regulating state behaviour in cyberspace is necessary to complement cyber deterrence strategies and foster stability. Enforcing this regime requires an a…Read more
  •  4
    Solving Cyber Conflicts
    The Philosophers' Magazine 79 79-82. 2017.
  •  40
  •  39
    The Limits of Deterrence Theory in Cyberspace
    Philosophy and Technology 31 (3): 339-355. 2018.
    In this article, I analyse deterrence theory and argue that its applicability to cyberspace is limited and that these limits are not trivial. They are the consequence of fundamental differences between deterrence theory and the nature of cyber conflicts and cyberspace. The goals of this analysis are to identify the limits of deterrence theory in cyberspace, clear the ground of inadequate approaches to cyber deterrence, and define the conceptual space for a domain-specific theory of cyber deterre…Read more
  •  28
    Information Societies, Ethical Enquiries
    Philosophy and Technology 28 (1): 5-10. 2015.
    The special issue collects a selection of papers presented during the Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiries 2013 conference. This is a series of conferences organized by the International Association for Ethics and Information Technology , a professional organization formed in 2001 and which gathers experts in information and computer ethics prompting interdisciplinary research and discussions on ethical problems related to design and deployment of information and communication technologies .…Read more
  •  93
    Internet Neutrality: Ethical Issues in the Internet Environment
    with Matteo Turilli and Antonino Vaccaro
    Philosophy and Technology 25 (2): 133-151. 2012.
    This paper investigates the ethical issues surrounding the concept of Internet neutrality focusing specifically on the correlation between neutrality and fairness. Moving from an analysis of the many available definitions of Internet neutrality and the heterogeneity of the Internet infrastructure, the common assumption that a neutral Internet is also a fair Internet is challenged. It is argued that a properly neutral Internet supports undesirable situations in which few users can exhaust the maj…Read more
  •  128
    Cyber Security and Individual Rights, Striking the Right Balance
    Philosophy and Technology 26 (4): 353-356. 2013.
    In this article, I offer an outline of the papers comprising the special issue. I also provide a brief overview of its topic, namely, the friction between cyber security measures and individual rights. I consider such a friction to be a new and exacerbated version of what Mill called ‘the struggle between liberties and authorities,’ and I claim that the struggle arises because of the involvement of public authorities in the management of the cyber sphere, for technological and state power can pu…Read more
  •  264
    Information Warfare: A Philosophical Perspective (review)
    Philosophy and Technology 25 (1): 105-120. 2012.
    This paper focuses on Information Warfare—the warfare characterised by the use of information and communication technologies. This is a fast growing phenomenon, which poses a number of issues ranging from the military use of such technologies to its political and ethical implications. The paper presents a conceptual analysis of this phenomenon with the goal of investigating its nature. Such an analysis is deemed to be necessary in order to lay the groundwork for future investigations into this t…Read more
  •  31
    The Case of Online Trust
    with Matteo Turilli and Antonino Vaccaro
    Knowledge, Technology & Policy 23 (3): 333-345. 2010.
    This paper contributes to the debate on online trust addressing the problem of whether an online environment satisfies the necessary conditions for the emergence of trust. The paper defends the thesis that online environments can foster trust, and it does so in three steps. Firstly, the arguments proposed by the detractors of online trust are presented and analysed. Secondly, it is argued that trust can emerge in uncertain and risky environments and that it is possible to trust online identities…Read more
  •  48
    The Struggle Between Liberties and Authorities in the Information Age
    Science and Engineering Ethics 21 (5): 1125-1138. 2015.
    The “struggle between liberties and authorities”, as described by Mill, refers to the tension between individual rights and the rules restricting them that are imposed by public authorities exerting their power over civil society. In this paper I argue that contemporary information societies are experiencing a new form of such a struggle, which now involves liberties and authorities in the cyber-sphere and, more specifically, refers to the tension between cyber-security measures and individual l…Read more
  •  134
    Just Information Warfare
    Topoi 35 (1): 213-224. 2016.
    In this article I propose an ethical analysis of information warfare, the warfare waged in the cyber domain. The goal is twofold: filling the theoretical vacuum surrounding this phenomenon and providing the conceptual grounding for the definition of new ethical regulations for information warfare. I argue that Just War Theory is a necessary but not sufficient instrument for considering the ethical implications of information warfare and that a suitable ethical analysis of this kind of warfare is…Read more
  •  113
    The Case of Online Trust
    with Matteo Turilli and Antonino Vaccaro
    Knowledge, Technology & Policy 23 (3-4): 333-345. 2010.
    This paper contributes to the debate on online trust addressing the problem of whether an online environment satisfies the necessary conditions for the emergence of trust. The paper defends the thesis that online environments can foster trust, and it does so in three steps. Firstly, the arguments proposed by the detractors of online trust are presented and analysed. Secondly, it is argued that trust can emerge in uncertain and risky environments and that it is possible to trust online identities…Read more