Ethical issues for AI in business

Make no mistake, artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries, and it’s doing so at a rapid pace. 

The speed can excite some but worry many others, who think that runaway transitions into AI-driven business will spawn many unanswered ethical dilemmas. 

So, now is the time to pinpoint what those dilemmas are. It’s the first step in deciding how AI capabilities will fit into company strategy and balance itself alongside profitability, ESG and other vital considerations.

You may have already heard that because AIs draw their information from the web, their content may show a bias that could haunt your organisation. 

It’s natural. AI feeds off human-written content where, by and large, you will encounter a large amount of conscious or unconscious bias about any topic. 

Unchecked, AI-produced material may regurgitate or promote information that could cause offence or enforce negative stereotypes and hate movements.

AIs can draw from any information held in the public domain of the internet. That’s a lot of data. And, despite our best efforts to safeguard our personal information, some of it can easily become accessible. 

Perhaps a person handed over the information while on a website without a second thought. Maybe a data leak did it for them. Whatever the reason, your company’s AI can see and may use it.

This is a very tough area to measure right now because, despite the hype and constant chatter about AI and job losses, we are still in the early days and don’t know the actual impact. 

That said, the revolutionary nature of AI means that there will inevitably be a shift in how we work. Some may lose jobs; some may need upskilling or other training. The ethical dilemma is how a company balances these changes with their emerging embracement of AI.

When we solve a problem or complete a task, we usually do so in stages which collectively make up a “trail of work”. This trail shows how people arrived at decisions and finished products, with reasons for everything and, crucially, understanding among those involved. 

Now, AIs are proving capable of doing most of these tasks alone. 

While this alone doesn’t pose ethical questions, the idea that people will be removed from important project phases introduces questions of accountability. 

If crucial personnel take no part in critical decisions, then their degree of responsibility for the project goes down. It undermines any confidence that they have control over their assigned tasks and builds doubt in AI activity that’s unchecked for errors.

AIs have a wealth of data at their disposal but noticeably lack up-to-date information, so far at least. 

As a result, the content they produce can omit anything that may have occurred in the recent past, no matter how important, paving the way for further bias and ill-informed decision-making.

These ethical issues are not designed to question AI as a concept. Many of us have seen with our own eyes how useful it can be. 

What these issues are about is shaping strategy. Corporate leaders are only now starting to look at their policies around AI. And, whether it’s on the say-so or governments or investors, outside stakeholders will begin to look for these policies soon. 

The ethical side of AI needs extensive consideration if you’re going to make a policy that works.