Perspectives on Computing Ethics: a Multi-Stakeholder Analysis

Purpose: Computing ethics represents a long established, yet rapidly evolving, discipline that grows in complexity and scope on a near-daily basis. Therefore, to help understand some of that scope it is essential to incorporate a range of perspectives, from a range of stakeholders, on current and emerging ethical challenges associated with computer technology. This study aims to achieve this by using, a three-pronged, stakeholder analysis of Computer Science academics, ICT industry professionals, and citizen groups was undertaken to explore what they consider to be crucial computing ethics concerns. The overlap between these stakeholder groups are explored, as well as whether their concerns are reflected in the existing literature. Design/methodology/approach: Data collection was performed using focus groups, and the data was analysed using a thematic analysis. The data was also analysed to determine if there were overlaps between the literature and the stakeholders’ concerns and attitudes towards computing ethics. Findings: The results of the focus group analysis show a mixture of overlapping concerns between the different groups, as well as some concerns that are unique to each of the specific groups. All groups stressed the importance of data as a key topic in computing ethics. This includes concerns around the accuracy, completeness and representativeness of datasets used to develop computing applications. Academics were concerned with the best ways to teach computing ethics to university students. Industry professionals believed that a lack of diversity in software teams resulted in important questions not being asked during design and development. Citizens discussed at length the negative and unexpected impacts of social media applications. These are all topics that have gained broad coverage in the literature. Originality: The multi-stakeholder analysis provides individual and differing perspectives on the issues related to the rapidly evolving discipline of computing ethics. Social implications: In recent years, the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on society and the environment at large has grown tremendously. From this fast-paced growth, a myriad of ethical concerns have arisen. Our analysis aims to shed light on what a diverse group of stakeholders consider the most important social impacts of technology and whether these concerns are reflected in the literature on computing ethics. The outcomes of this analysis will form the basis for new teaching content that will be developed in future to help illuminate and address these concerns

Assessing deep learning : a work program for the humanities in the age of artificial intelligence

Following the success of deep learning (DL) in research, we are now witnessing the fast and widespread adoption of arti cial intelligence (AI) in daily life, influencing the way we act, think, and organize our lives. However, much still remains a mystery when it comes to how these systems achieve such high performance and why they reach the outputs they do. This presents us with an unusual combination: of technical mastery on the one hand, and a striking degree of mystery on the other. This conjunction is not only fascinating, but it also poses considerable risks, which urgently require our attention. Awareness of the need to analyze ethical implications, such as fairness, equality, and sustainability, is growing. However, other dimensions of inquiry receive less attention, including the subtle but pervasive ways in which our dealings with AI shape our way of living and thinking, transforming our culture and human self-understanding. If we want to deploy AI positively in the long term, a broader and more holistic assessment of the technology is vital, involving not only scienti c and technical perspectives but also those from the humanities. To this end, we present outlines of a work program for the humanities that aim to contribute to assessing and guiding the potential, opportunities, and risks of further developing and deploying DL systems. This paper contains a thematic introduction (section 1), an introduction to the workings of DL for non-technical readers (section 2), and a main part, containing the outlines of a work program for the humanities (section 3). Readers familiar with DL might want to ignore 2 and instead directly read 3 after 1

Towards an Ethical Code for Data-Based Business

In this paper, we outline the structure and content of a code of ethics for companies engaged in data-based business, i.e. companies whose value propositions strongly depends on using data. The code provides an ethical reference for all people in the organization who are responsible for activities around data. It is primarily targeting private industry, but public organizations and administrations may also use it. A joint industry-academic initiative, involving specialists for ethics as well as for all relevant data-related issues, developed this code