ethical

Shortly before Google introduced Bard, its AI chatbot, to the public in March, it asked employees to test the tool.One worker's conclusion: Bard was “a pathological liar,” according to screenshots of the internal discussion. Another called it “cringe-worthy.” One employee wrote that when they asked Bard suggestions for how to land a plane, it regularly gave advice that would lead to a crash; another said it gave answers on scuba diving “which would likely result in serious injury or death.” Google launched Bard anyway.…

Image created by author using Dall-E 2The key to building transparent AI software systemsAn AI algorithm is a software system that has the ability to automate or perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. These systems often include more than just a trained model. They can also include explicit algorithm functionality, such as business rules, that integrate the model’s output into the larger AI system to complete an end-to-end task.To properly implement ethical AI systems, the software used to deploy the…

Some philosophers have pointed out that immortality, while it may initially be desirable, would eventually lose its sheen. Credit: Shutterstock Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, recently invested US$180 million into Retro Biosciences—a company seeking to extend human lifespans by ten healthy years. One way it plans to…

In a new opinion paper published in Trends in Genetics, evolutionary geneticist Asher Cutter highlights the ethical and scientific considerations surrounding “genetic welding,” the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to alter the evolutionary course of organisms by inserting easily-spread genes. Cutter emphasizes the need to examine the potential long-term consequences of genetic welding on natural populations spanning hundreds or thousands of generations before implementing it in practice.With CRISPR-Cas9 technology, humans…

…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain New research led by the University of St Andrews reveals that multinational organizations that pay their share of in-country taxes contribute positively to tackling global poverty and international human rights. The study, led by a team of researchers from the University of St Andrews' School of…

Microsoft is currently in the process of shoehorning text-generating artificial intelligence into every single product that it can. And starting this month, the company will be continuing on its AI rampage without a team dedicated to internally ensuring those AI features meet Microsoft’s ethical standards, according to a Monday night report from Platformer.Microsoft has scrapped its whole Ethics and Society team within the company’s AI sector, as part of ongoing layoffs set to impact 10,000 total employees, per…

Credit: Shutterstock Do you want to have a baby? But, on a planet rocked by the climate crisis, ecosystem collapse, famine and poverty, is having one just adding to the problem—and therefore unethical? I am a Ph.D. Candidate at Monash Bioethics Centre, and I research the ethics of procreation in a time of climate change. I've found…

The moon is interesting because there are valuable resources people want, like the ice on the poles. But even though the moon hasn’t been mined yet, and it seems like a big pile of resources that we can all just get our hands into, it’s limited, finite resources. And on the moon, they’re in finite areas: Most of the stuff you want from the moon is all in one place. The ice is at the poles. If you want uninterrupted sunlight, it’s at “peaks of eternal light” that get round-the-clock sunlight. If you want really cold areas…

Too Long; Didn't ReadArtificial intelligence is now developing quickly, and its use in the military has significantly altered how combat is engaged in. One of the most significant advancements in AI warfare is the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), often referred to as drones. The benefits of AI in warfare are undeniable, but there are also ethical concerns and questions about the impact of this technology. Too Long; Didn't ReadArtificial intelligence is now developing quickly, and its use in the military has…