Responsible AI—Two Frameworks for Ethical Design Practice

Abstract

In 2019, the IEEE launched the P7000 standards projects intended to address ethical issues in the design of autonomous and intelligent systems. This move came amidst a growing public concern over the unintended consequences of artificial intelligence (AI), compounded by the lack of an anticipatory process for attending to ethical impact within professional practice. However, the difficulty in moving from principles to practice presents a significant challenge to the implementation of ethical guidelines. Herein, we describe two complementary frameworks for integrating ethical analysis into engineering practice to help address this challenge. We then provide the outcomes of an ethical analysis informed by these frameworks, conducted within the specific context of Internet-delivered therapy in digital mental health. We hope both the frameworks and analysis can provide tools and insights, not only for the context of digital healthcare but also for data-enabled and intelligent technology development more broadly.

Z-Inspection®: A Process to Assess Trustworthy AI

“…Z-Inspection is designed by integrating two well-known approaches: 1) A holistic approach, that aims grasping the whole without consideration of the various parts; and 2) An analytic approach, that aims to consider each part of the problem domain. This is in keeping with the views expressed by Peters et al [14] that "evaluating the ethical impact of a technology's use, [is] not just on its users, but often, also on those indirectly affected, such as their friends and families, communities, society as a whole, and the planet. "…”

“…In fact "the real-life ethical impact that a technology will have on people, their communities and the planet, can only be fully understood once the product or service is in realworld use." [14] When considering the Western perspective on ethics, the main problem is that most of the principles proposed for AI ethics are not specific enough to be used in practice. Bengio and colleagues [13] note that: "for a sufficiently complex AI system or development process, a wide variety of mechanisms will likely need to be brought to bear in order to adequately substantiate a high-level claim such as "this system was developed in accordance with our organization's ethical principles and relevant laws."…”

Addressing Ethical Issues in AI

“…In the area of AI there are currently several standardisation activities, notably ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42, 4 which includes some references to ethical issues. The most prominent standardisation efforts in terms of the ethical aspects of AI is being undertaken by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in its P7000 family of standards 5 (Peters et al 2020).…”

The Boeing 737 MAX: Lessons for Engineering Ethics

“…This parallels IEEE activities in the area of design of autonomous and intelligent systems (e.g., IEEE 2018 ). A promising outcome of this emphasis is a move toward implementing “ethical design” frameworks (Peters et al 2020 ).…”