The closing session of the 5th edition of Emergentes 2022, organised by the Association of Technology, Consulting and Innovation Companies of the Valencian Community (AECTA) and held at Las Naves under the motto “Artificial Intelligence and Humanism”, put the focus on ethics in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In this regard, the main conclusion of this talk stressed that in the face of AI, rather than a defeatist stance, what is needed is a stance of alertness, completing the regulation of the use of AI tools in all areas and deepening the technological foundations to strengthen the security of people, companies and institutions.
Professionals who apply business ethics
Now is the time for administrations and companies to have the necessary professionals who watch over security in the face of these new threats, while complying with future regulation and applying business ethics, good practice and professional codes of conduct in AI tools. And for society, companies and administrations to regard the computer forensic expert as a technology adviser.
This final talk explained how ethics, or moral philosophy, is the branch of philosophy that studies human conduct: right, wrong, good, bad, morality, the good life, virtue, happiness and duty. Humanism is the philosophy of democratic and ethical life that affirms that human beings have the right and the responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives.
Meanwhile, AI is, in computer science, the discipline that tries to replicate and develop intelligence and its implicit processes through computers. And in this sense, the aim is to stress the ethics, the correct conduct, of applying AI technology, and to endow this new technology with values and principles. This leads to “business ethics”.
And the Partnership on AI, whose primary goal is to establish rules of the game based on a framework of moral behaviour, in which AI can be developed on behalf of humanity.
For this reason, it is important that companies also have profiles from law and the legal profession so that people’s rights are respected in technological developments. In this regard, and within AI, there are three important legs to respecting people’s rights and ethics in AI: legislation on AI, the driving force of Public Administration and the professional who practises or develops AI.
Trustworthy AI
First, a trustworthy AI that must, on the one hand, respect the fundamental rights under current laws and the essential principles and values, so as to guarantee an “ethical purpose”. And on the other hand, it must be reliable and robust, technically speaking, since a poor command of technology can cause unintended harm even when the interactions are good.
Second, a regulated AI. In this regard, in February 2022 a Guide to Good Practices for the use of ethical AI was compiled. The Secretariat of State for Digitalisation and AI recently published the National AI Strategy. In November 2021, UNESCO presented the “Report on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence”, which urges the creation of policies and regulatory frameworks to ensure that these emerging technologies benefit humanity as a whole. And in April 2021, the European Commission presented its proposal for a regulatory framework in the EU on the use of AI. The Bill aims to establish horizontal regulation on AI so that, once approved, all companies will have to comply with it in less than two years.
During this final talk, computer forensics was also discussed: the computer forensic expert is the specialist in technology advice, whom people turn to in order to clarify specific facts that they document and study in order to issue expert opinions. On that basis, they provide well-founded opinions to the Courts of Justice.
A danger to democracy
In this regard, the computer forensic expert ensures collaboration with companies, society and the Administration of Justice. Thus the Code of Ethics of the Professional Actions Roster (Turno de Actuaciones Profesionales, TAP) of the Official College of Computer Engineers of the Valencian Community (Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros en Informática de la Comunitat Valenciana) lays down the ethics of experts, based on exemplary conduct, honesty, transparent fees, cooperation with professional colleagues and good practice.
For the fact is that today experts consider the fraudulent use of news, fake news, and fake videos generated with AI that make it possible to change a person’s face so that they say or do something they have not done or said, deep fakes, to be among the most worrying crimes, and ones that moreover directly threaten democracy. Hence the importance of treating AI in an ethical and trustworthy way for the future of society.
Originally published in Spanish on IANética (2023). English version prepared for TecnoHumanismo.
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