Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a digital technology that will be of major importance for the development of humanity in the near future. AI has raised fundamental questions about what we should do with such systems, what the systems themselves should do, what risks they involve and how we can control these. - After the background to the field (1), this article introduces the main debates (2), first on ethical issues that arise with AI systems as objects, i.e. tools made and used by humans; here, the main sections are privacy (2.1), manipulation (2.2), opacity (2.3), bias (2.4), autonomy & responsibility (2.6) and the singularity (2.7). Then we look at AI systems as subjects, i.e. when ethics is for the AI systems themselves in machine ethics (2.8.) and artificial moral agency (2.9). Finally we look at future developments and the concept of AI (3). For each section within these themes, we provide a general explanation of the ethical issues, we outline existing positions and arguments, then we analyse how this plays out with current technologies and finally what policy conse-quences may be drawn

Cultivating Better Brains: Transhumanism and its Critics on the Ethics of Enhancement Via Brain-computer Interfacing

Transhumanists contend that enhancing the human brain—a subfield of human enhancement called cognitive enhancement—is both a crucial and desirable pursuit toward cultivating a better world. The discussion thus far has almost entirely focused on cognitive enhancement through genetic engineering and pharmaceuticals, both of which fall within the realm of medicine and are thus subject to restrictive policies for both ethical development and distribution. This thesis argues that cognitive enhancement through brain-computer interfacing (BCI), despite being considered like any other form of cognitive enhancement, is developing outside of medical ethics, and is on track to avoid myriad legal and ethical regulations that other cognitive enhancements will ultimately face. Transhumanists and their opponents ignore the unique ethical dilemmas BCIs present, and are too enthralled in conceptual theories of the future to take notice of the ways BCIs are developing today, and fail to engage with any practical ethical deliberation

The Next Familiar

Using a speculative design foresight approach, this study explores the rapidly developing area of wearable, implantable and ingestible technologies, and how they might influence us over the next several decades. The authors have combined traditional research methods such as literature review and expert interviews; foresight methods, such as environmental scanning, trends analysis and scenario creation; and narrative, imagery and conjecture to produce an evocative account of future possibilities in the realm of the tools we keep and use close to and inside our bodies