{"id":6557,"date":"2022-07-04T15:52:24","date_gmt":"2022-07-04T13:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ethicstech.eu\/?p=6557"},"modified":"2022-12-08T14:22:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T13:22:19","slug":"philip-brey-ethics-by-design-is-a-feasible-approach-to-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ethicstech.eu\/en\/philip-brey-ethics-by-design-is-a-feasible-approach-to-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Philip Brey: Ethics by Design is a feasible approach to AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Philip Brey:
Ethics by Design
is a feasible
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4 July, 2022
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If you want to engineer ethics into AI products and systems then it requires specialized knowledge. It\u2019s not just checking boxes. So if you have a development team add an ethicist, preferably one that is of a more applied persuasion. We also think that Ethics by Design should be part of computer science and engineering training, says Prof. Philip Brey in conversation with Maciej Chojnowski.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Maciej Chojnowski: About a year ago, at the first CET conference there was a discussion about the existing AI ethics tools and the possibility that they would form a basis for the future solutions for other technologies. Now we can see that it has already happened. In the <\/strong>SIENNA<\/strong><\/a> project, not only have you developed approaches for specific domains like AI, but also created a generalized methodology that can be used with any technology, haven\u2019t you? In which areas would you expect its further adoption? <\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Philip Brey<\/strong>*: Currently there is a lot of interest in ethics of artificial intelligence. AI is seen as a powerful technology that is going to change all sectors of society and at the same time is raising significant ethical issues. And while this is true for AI, it\u2019s also true for many other technologies like 5th generation genomics, synthetic biology, neurotechnology, nanotechnology or Internet of Things.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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So time and again, we are going to need ways of dealing with the ethical issues and human rights challenges raised by these emerging technologies. Then it would be good if we could avoid reinventing the wheel and learn from previous technologies how to ethically assess them, identify ethical issues and ways to mitigate them at an early stage as well as ensure that this happens in a best possible way.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the SIENNA project, we have developed ethics guidelines and tools for artificial intelligence, human genomics and human enhancement technologies but we have also developed a general approach that can be used for other technologies. For example, in the TechEthos<\/a> project, which I am also involved with, we are now looking at neurotechnology, extended reality, and geoengineering. These are also very intrusive, impactful technologies that we need to ethically assess so it helps to already have the experience and the methods of how to do it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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One of the results of the SIENNA project, ETCOM, is a normative model for the coevolution of emerging technology and ethics. Is it an attempt to put an order on the already existing procedures so that they are easier to manage, or does it introduce new solutions?<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the past ten years, there\u2019ve been attempts to create comprehensive models for the ethical guidance of emerging technologies under the heading of responsible research and innovation. But those were broader models aimed at governance and developing technology in a responsible and inclusive way where ethics was only one of the dimensions. Before that there has also been a lot of ethical analysis of emerging technologies but not really comprehensive models looking at ethical guidance and mitigation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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So we wanted to do something more specific for ethics what did not exist yet. And we decided to build a normative model that looked at how at different points in the evolution of an emerging technology ethical interventions can be staged so as to effectively take into account and mitigate for ethical issues in it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Given that the ETCOM is a new normative model, one should not expect its full implementation yet. However, you probably used some existing components to conceptualize it. Can we then say that AI is already being developed in an ethical manner, or do we need to catch up with the right ethical approach, i.e. the one that you prepared?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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AI is certainly a technology where many of the developments recommended by ETCOM have already been in place. But there is no emerging technology that really wins a prize for how ethics is dealt with. Ethics is still often an afterthought or not implemented in a really comprehensive and systematic way in the development, use and regulation of emerging technologies. But for AI, at least significant efforts have been made along different dimensions to address ethical issues at an early stage.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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However, the ETCOM normative model goes certainly further than what has happened in AI. It identifies five stages in a development of an emerging technology where different ethical interventions are recommended. It starts with early ethical analysis and identification of potential ethical issues and implementation of research ethics protocols particular to that technology. Then we have later stages in which ethical guidance is developed for the technology for different actors, where the Ethics by Design approach is used and ethically inspired regulation and ethics standards are developed. And finally there are stages where ethics considerations are made part of ISO or CEN standards and where you have education and training.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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So there\u2019s a whole set of actions that one should take when one wants to successfully deal with ethical issues related to an emerging technology. It\u2019s also important to see at what stage what should happen, \u00a0what actors should be engaged in it, what knowledge they should have, and what tools they are using. That\u2019s why we created these comprehensive recommendations on how that can be done for a new technology.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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One of the most important outcomes of the SIENNA project is Ethics by Design, an approach allowing practical operationalization of high-level ethical principles in the AI design. It relates to a previous project you participated in \u2013 <\/strong>SHERPA<\/strong><\/a>. How did this EbD approach evolve?<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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These projects ran roughly in parallel but in SHERPA we had an earlier opportunity to work on Ethics by Design approach, whereas in SIENNA that was planned a little bit later. So that\u2019s why we did an early work on this approach in SHERPA and then continued a more advanced version of it in the SIENNA project. And in SIENNA we also worked together with the European Commission to implement Ethics by Design in their Horizon Europe funding programme.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The European Commission has officially endorsed Ethics by Design, hasn\u2019t it? <\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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They endorse it as a recommended approach. Now it is part of the ethics review procedure for artificial intelligence, big data and robotics projects. We hope that in the future we may expand on this and Ethics by Design will also become a recommended approach for other technology projects.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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You\u2019ve previously mentioned TechEthos, another project in which you take part. Are you going to develop the Ethics by Design approach further on in it, or is the SIENNA version the final one?<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In TechEthos not much room was reserved for Ethics by Design specifically. The project came into place before our Ethics by Design proposal for AI was presented. But in the SIENNA project we did some work to generalize Ethics by Design. There is a report which makes some proposals on how the approach can be generalized for other technologies. But it would be good at some point if one could do case studies of that for other technologies and develop it a bit more. I\u2019m sure it will happen in other projects at some point.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Are you going to test Ethics by Design in practice?<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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It will be tested in practice through the different projects in Horizon that will implement the approach. Of course, we have done as much testing as we could during SIENNA but with limited means so it is not thoroughly tested. But it\u2019s based on proven principles from earlier incarnations like Design for Values and Value Sensitive Design and on accepted design methodologies. So we are confident that it\u2019s a feasible approach.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Some people in the AI community expect ethics tasks to be easily manageable. They would like them to be similar to a checklist or even (semi)automated. On the other hand, philosophers like <\/strong>Ana\u00efs Ress\u00e9guier<\/strong><\/a>, with whom you worked in the SIENNA project, put stress on ethical agency and claim that it is essential for moral reasoning. What\u2019s your view on the possibility of automating ethics as part of designing or deploying AI?<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Development processes are complex and they require a lot of expertise to perform them well. Anyone with programming skill can develop software but developing sophisticated software, especially in the field of AI, is a very complex process. So incorporating ethical considerations in it certainly is not going to be easy. That has to be taken into account.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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