Can Artificial Intelligence Ever Be Ethical? Answer Might Surprise You

It has been a long-running debate whether the technology is inherently good, inherently bad, or everything depends on the specifics. That said, the technology is capable of harnessing data faster, offering better results in cases where it is being used. Be it capturing images, driving a car, ordering your favorite food, making payments online, there's some form of AI working in the background every time. Let's understand it in detail.

Why Do We Call It Ethical AI?

AI ethics are imperative to create an AI that can be trusted, but that's just one part of the equation that is required to aid organizations to adopt the technology responsibly. As for ethical principles, it's clear that the purpose of AI is to augment human intelligence. Besides, the data extracted belongs to the creator and AI technologies should be transparent and shouldn't support harmful bias.

However, implementing these ethical principles into the technology is easier said than done. To make AI successful, it should be built on a diverse ecosystem. Artificial intelligence is changing the way businesses operate and interact with the world, offering the power of prediction to augment decision-making. However, to use AI to its full potential and make it trustworthy, ethics should be considered a priority.

AI Itself Answers The Big Question

Students at Oxford's Said Business School tried answering the question of whether AI could ever be ethical by hosting a debate with an advanced AI. Two Oxford scholars, in an essay in the Conversation, described the debate about the ethics of automated AI stock trading and facial recognition techs, where an AI was allowed to take part.

"AI will never be ethical," the AI said during the debate. "It is a tool, and like any tool, it is used for good and bad. There is no such thing as a good AI, only good and bad humans."

The scholars used Nvidia's Megatron Transformer and fed it with digital content that humans could consume in a lifetime. This data included the whole content on Wikipedia, millions of news articles written in the English language, and much more.

Can AI Be Trusted With Its Answer?

It's imperative to note that AIs will give different answers based on the phrasing and context, and this debate was no different. Initially, the AI answered that the technology is neutral and depends on humans how they use it.

But when the team gave it an opposing viewpoint, it led to an anti-AI conclusion. The AI gave logical opinions from both sides of the debate, which gives a more general idea that the technology can be good or bad, based on the context, and humans should think hard before offering it with much power.

"I believe that the only way to avoid an AI arms race is to have no AI at all," it said. "This will be the ultimate defense against AI."