Five Motivating Concerns for AI Ethics Instruction

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are embedded in institutions that are not diverse, that are inequitable, unjust, and exclusionary. How do we address the interface between AI systems and an unjust world, in service to human flourishing? One mechanism for addressing AI Ethics is AI Ethics Education: training those who will build, use, and/or be subject to AI systems to have clear moral reasoning, make responsible decisions, and take right actions. This paper presents, as part of a larger project, work on what AI Ethics instructors currently do and how they describe their motivating concerns. I find that although AI Ethics content and pedagogy is varied, there are some common motivating concerns particular to this kind of teaching, which may be useful in structuring future guidance for new AI Ethics teachers, evaluating existing pedagogy, guiding research on new pedagogies, and promoting discussion with the AI Ethics community.