Training Ethically Responsible AI Researchers: a Case Study

Ethical oversight of AI research is beset by a number of problems. There are numerous ways to tackle these problems, however, they leave full responsibility for ethical reflection in the hands of review boards and committees. In this paper, we propose an alternative solution: the training of ethically responsible AI researchers. We showcase this solution through a case study of a centre for doctoral training and outline how ethics training is structured in the program. We go on to present two second-year students' reflections on their training which demonstrates some of their newly found capabilities as ethically responsible researchers.Comment: First two authors contributed equally. Part of the Navigating the Broader Impacts of AI Research Workshop at NeurIPS 202

A macroscopic quantum state analysed particle by particle

Explaining how microscopic entities collectively produce macroscopic phenomena is a fundamental goal of many-body physics. Theory predicts that large-scale entanglement is responsible for exotic macroscopic phenomena, but observation of entangled particles in naturally occurring systems is extremely challenging. Synthetic quantum systems made of atoms in optical lattices have been con- structed with the goal of observing macroscopic quantum phenomena with single-atom resolution. Serious challenges remain in producing and detecting long-range quantum correlations in these systems, however. Here we exploit the strengths of photonic technology, including high coherence and efficient single-particle detection, to study the predicted large-scale entanglement underlying the macroscopic quantum phenomenon of polarization squeezing. We generate a polarization-squeezed beam, extract photon pairs at random, and make a tomographic reconstruction of their joint quantum state. We present experimental evidence showing that all photons arriving within the squeezing coherence time are entangled, that entanglement monogamy dilutes entanglement with increasing photon density and that, counterintuitively, increased squeezing can reduce bipartite entanglement. The results provide direct evidence for entanglement of macroscopic numbers of particles and introduce micro-analysis to the study of macroscopic quantum phenomena

Vulnerability and Response-Ability in the Pandemic Marketplace: Developing an Ethic of Care for Provisioning in Crisis

This paper draws on the ethics of care to investigate how citizens grappled with ethical tensions in the mundane practice of grocery shopping at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. We use this case to address the broader question of what it means ‘to care’ in the context of a crisis. Based on a qualitative longitudinal cross-country interview study, we find that the pandemic transformed ordinary shopping spaces into places fraught with a sense of fear and vulnerability. Being forced to face one’s own vulnerability created an opportunity for individuals to relate to one another as significant others through a sense of “response-ability”, or the capacity of people to respond to ethical demands through situated ethical reasoning. We argue for a practical ethos of care in which seemingly small decisions such as how often to go shopping and how much to buy of a particular product serve as a means to relate to both specified and generalized others—and through this, ‘care with’ society. Our study contributes to displacing the continuing prevalence of an abstract and prescriptive morality in consumption ethics with a situated and affective politics of care. This vocabulary seems better suited to reflect on the myriad of small and unheroic care acts in times of crisis and beyond

Vulnerability and Response-Ability in the Pandemic Marketplace: Developing an Ethic of Care for Provisioning in Crisis

This paper draws on the ethics of care to investigate how citizens grappled with ethical tensions in the mundane practice of grocery shopping at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. We use this case to address the broader question of what it means ‘to care’ in the context of a crisis. Based on a qualitative longitudinal cross-country interview study, we find that the pandemic transformed ordinary shopping spaces into places fraught with a sense of fear and vulnerability. Being forced to face one’s own vulnerability created an opportunity for individuals to relate to one another as significant others through a sense of “response-ability”, or the capacity of people to respond to ethical demands through situated ethical reasoning. We argue for a practical ethos of care in which seemingly small decisions such as how often to go shopping and how much to buy of a particular product serve as a means to relate to both specified and generalized others – and through this, ‘care with’ society. Our study contributes to displacing the continuing prevalence of an abstract and prescriptive morality in consumption ethics with a situated and affective politics of care. This vocabulary seems better suited to reflect on the myriad of small and unheroic care acts in times of crisis and beyond.European Commission Horizon 2020European Research CouncilBundesministerium für Bildung und ForschungUniversity of Oxford COVID-19 Research Response FundTo check citing and date details in 6

Understanding pandemic solidarity: mutual support during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of solidarity has been invoked frequently. Much interest has centred around how citizens and communities support one another during times of uncertainty. Yet, empirical research which accounts and understands citizen’s views on pandemic solidarity, or their actual practices has remained limited. Drawing upon the analysis of data from 35 qualitative interviews, this article investigates how residents in England and Scotland enacted, understood, or criticised (the lack of) solidarity during the first national lockdown in the United Kingdom in April 2020—at a time when media celebrated solidarity as being at an all-time high. It finds that although solidarity was practiced by some people, the perceived lack of solidarity was just as pronounced. We conclude that despite frequent mobilisations of solidarity by policy makers and other public actors, actual practices of solidarity are poorly understood—despite the importance of solidarity for public health and policy

How does the use of digital consulting change the meaning of being a patient and/or a health professional? Lessons from the Long-term Conditions Young People Networked Communication study

Background: While studies have examined the impact of digital communication technology on healthcare, there is little exploration of how new models of digital care change the roles and identities of the health professional and patient. The purpose of the current study is to generate multidisciplinary reflections and questions around the use of digital consulting and the way it changes the meaning of being a patient and/or a health professional. Method: We used a large pre-existing qualitative dataset from the Long-term Conditions Young People Networked Communication (LYNC) study which involved interviews with healthcare professionals and a group of 16–24 years patients with long-term physical and mental health conditions. We conducted a three-stage mixed methods analysis. First, using a small sample of interview data from the LYNC study, we identified three key themes to explore in the data and relevant academic literature. Second, in small groups we conducted secondary analysis of samples of patient and health professional LYNC interview data. Third, we ran a series of rapid evidence reviews. Findings: We identified three key themes: workload/flow, impact of increased access to healthcare and vulnerabilities. Both health professionals and patients were 'on duty' in their role more often. Increased access to healthcare introduced more responsibilities to both patients and health professionals. Traditional concepts in medical ethics, confidentiality, empathy, empowerment/power, efficiency and mutual responsibilities are reframed in the context of digital consulting. Conclusions: Our collaboration identified conflicts and constraints in the construction of digital patients and digital clinicians. There is evidence that digital technologies change the nature of a medical consultation and with it the identities and the roles of clinicians and patients which, in turn, calls for a redefinition of traditional concepts of medical ethics. Overall, digital consulting has the potential to significantly reduce costs while maintaining or improving patient care and clinical outcomes. Timely study of digital engagement in the National Health Service is a matter of critical importance

Anticipatory Governance in the Technology Sector:Processes, Critiques and Principles for Addressing Grand Challenges in Computing

With growing understanding of negative social and environmental impacts of computing technologies and increasingly urgent calls to mitigate these impacts, the sector now faces thorny questions around whether and how to govern computing technologies. This workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners across a wide range of disciplines to explore critical perspectives on and solutions to anticipatory governance in the computing sector. We will draw on participants' diverse expertise to develop a practical and ethical governance roadmap that attends to the computing sector's responsibility to mitigate its own contribution to the climate emergency. Having developed strategies within this specific context, we will then produce a set of governance principles that could be useful to mitigate other harms resulting from computing, nominally those pertaining to efforts around responsible AI, data protection, and mis/disinformation

Greater than the sum of its parts: exploring a systemic design-inspired responsible innovation framework for addressing ICT carbon emissions

The carbon footprint of the world’s Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is growing at an alarming rate, giving rise to calls for tools and methodologies for reporting on carbon emissions towards greater accountability within the sector. Accurately calculating the emissions of digital technologies is a complex task where there are no clear standards for methodologies or boundaries for what should be included in these calculations. Nevertheless, a number of online carbon calculators exist to quantify carbon emissions of ICT. The starting question in this paper is how much such tools can inform and provide insight to people working with ICT innovation to take action to reduce the environmental impacts from the products, services and systems they create. To explore this question, we analyse ICT carbon calculators from a digital innovation designer's perspective, exploring what they enable those creating ICT to see and understand, as well as the limitations of these views on carbon. We argue that these approaches are limited and that a better way to address the issue is by moving from designing carbon calculators to co-designing a framework for responsible innovation that enables systems thinking, exposes complexities, helps with the assessment of carbon emissions without fixating on numbers, and supports evaluation and visualisation of future scenarios