RECAP Ethics refers to well-based standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights , obligations , benefits to society , fairness, and specific virtues. O bligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, fraud Rights to choose, privacy, to life, to freedom of speech and expression. An ethical dilemma occurs when a person is faced with a decision-making problem between two or multiple ambiguous moral imperatives.
Recap –Normative Ethical theories Is divided into 3 domains: Theories of moral character or virtues (what virtues should we promote?) Theories of the good ( what is morally valuable?) Theories of right -obligation (what makes an action right or wrong)
Applied ethics Examining the implications of moral principles and practices in all spheres of human activity E .g. Information (ICT) ethics, bioethics, environmental ethics, business ethics etc.
ICT and 21 st century scholar
4 Domains of 21 st century Skills Life & Career -Cross cultural/ collaboration/ soft skills, bridging knowledge culture & ethical skills (to value) Learning & innovation - Problem solving/creativity/pitching/ entrepreneurial/ managerial skills (to act) Digital ICT literacy -/ data mining/platformization/online sociality/self branding etc. (to know) Research & Publishing- mind mapping, Information gathering , Evidence synthesis, Multidisciplinary skills, Cross-disciplinary skills , Interdisciplinary skills , data visualization & storytelling , communication & dissemination skills (to Know)
ICT and Digital literacy We live in a world where information and communication technology has come to define how people live and work, and has critically affected culture and values. ICT assists and extends the ability of mankind to capture, store, process, understand, use, create, and disseminate information at a speed and scale which had never been thought possible before. We live in digital divide era between the information “haves” and “have-nots .” (digital literacy)
4IR era (in the ICT context) 1. Artificial Intelligence AI 2 . Robotics Technology 3 . The Internet of Things ( IoT ) 4. Big Data -Analytics 5. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) (Drones) 6. 5G Technology 7. Cyber security 8. Quantum Technology 9. The Blockchain Technology 10. Precision agriculture 11. Smart homes/devices
Information and Communication Technology ( ICT) Ethics Set of moral principles which guide users on how to use computers in morally acceptable manner. Addresses issues of rights, responsibility , obligations, accountability, liability, ownership and Intellectual Property Rights, Quality of system , environment and quality of life.
The evolution of the Information Ethics (EI) Norbert Wiener (father of cybernetics), in the late 1940s and early 1950s, was the first to predict and work on such problems. “Computer ethics” coined by Walter Maner in the mid 1970s, to refer to the field of research that studies ethical problems “aggravated, transformed or created by computer technology”. Later, it became clear that what matters is not the specific technology (computers, mobiles, ICTs in general) but the raw material manipulated by it, data/information. So in the late 1990s several researchers, especially in Oxford, started working on “information ethics ” (IE).
Evolution of ethical challenges in ICT 1940s/50s (mainframes) : (speculative) Robots and humans (Bentham’s Panopticon and Orwell’s Big Brother, are not digital/computational). 1970s/80s (PCs) : PAPA ( privacy, accuracy, intellectual property and access), viruses (vandalism). 1990s (Internet) : “the triple A”: availability, accessibility and accuracy; piracy; digital divide; infoglut ; safety, reliability and trustworthiness of complex systems; hacking (vandalism); freedom of expression and censorship; pornography, monitoring and surveillance. 2000 ( Infosphere ) : security and secrecy; propaganda; identity theft., military, health-related 2000 beyond: AI, IoT , Big Data, 5G, Block chain, Drone technology Platformization, Appization, cyberattacks , misinformation, smart world, Information warfare & Social engineering. 4IR etc.
1. AI ethics is concerned with the important question of how human developers, manufacturers and operators should behave in order to minimize the ethical harms that can arise from AI in society, either arising from poor (unethical) design , inappropriate application or misuse. AI is increasingly impacting all sectors such as industry , healthcare, policing & the judiciary, transport, finance and leisure
1. AI (Algocracy) Ethics Algorithms are increasingly given autonomy to make decisions throughout the research processes ( Mittelstadt , Allo , Taddeo , Wachter , & Floridi , 2016). A new profession of “ algorithmists ” would be capable of evaluating the accuracy, validity, and quality of these computer-driven analyses and outputs (Mayer- Schönberger & Cukier (2013:180). Machine are replacing human in data analysis. AI and Smart cities: integration of data from all living and inanimate objects so as to improve services such as garbage collection, traffic and commerce (https://smartdublin.ie/about/). Text and sentiment analysis tools extract themes and identify attitudes (Bail, 2014 ) Algorithms can be used to disseminate certain viewpoints and raise trending topics . But who owns the algorithms?
Human-human relationships Robots may affect the stability of marital or sexual relationships. For instance, feelings of jealousy may emerge if a partner is spending time with a robot, such as a 'virtual girlfriend' ( chatbot avatar). Loss of contact with fellow humans and perhaps a withdrawal from normal everyday relationships is also a possibility. For example, someone with a companion robot may be reluctant to go to events (say, a wedding) where the typical social convention is to attend as a human-human couple. People in human-robot relationships may be stigmatised
AI and Personhood As machines increasingly take on tasks and decisions traditionally performed by humans, should we consider giving AI systems 'personhood' and moral or legal agency? One way of programming AI systems is 'reinforcement learning', where improved performance is reinforced with a virtual reward. Could we consider a system to be suffering when its reward functions give it negative input? Once we consider machines as entities that can perceive, feel and act, it is no huge leap to ponder their legal status. Should they be treated like animals of comparable intelligence? Will we consider the suffering of 'feeling' machines?
AI in warfare the use of AI in warfare and the potential for AI applications to be used as weapons. AI is already used in military contexts. However , there are particular aspects of developing AI technologies that warrant consideration. These include: lethal autonomous weapons; drone technologies; robotic assassination and mobile-robotic-improvised explosive devices.
'Artificial Intelligence (AI) R efers to systems that display intelligent behavior by analyzing their environment and taking actions – with some degree of autonomy – to achieve specific goals . Intelligent robots are a subset of AI Machine learning is the term used for AIs which are capable of learning or, in the case of robots, adapting to their environment.
2. Big Data Ethics Big Data refers to the extremely large data sets that may be analyzed to reveal and predict patterns, trends and associations, especially with regard to human behavior and interactions. We know facebook , google , amazon, apple and others gain data from us which can then be either used by them, or sold to others. More and more IT investment is going into getting, managing and maintaining big data (data analytic skills) But with big data come big ethical questions.
Big Data Ethical Issues Ethical precepts for data science and codes of conduct, Privacy and confidentiality Consent and Choice Ownership Fairness (asymmetric info expansion) Responsible conduct of research Reasonable use of data Substantiated conclusions from data Ability to detect algorithmic bias Societal Effects of AI decision-making Personal moral effects of AI decision-making Social Responsibility concerns for data analysts and AI coders Loss of Serendipity
Example 1: Apple Face-Recognition and Ousmane Bah Ousmane Bah, who was arrested on charges of stealing from an Apple store in Boston (a town which he had never been to) on the very night that he was at his prom in Manhattan. NYC police arrested him at 4am at his home, with an arrest warrant obtained based on Apple’s allegations which were based on face recognition technology. “When a name is mismatched to a particular face,” the suit states, "the security benefits the Face ID software become a criminal’s weapon.
“Your Face May Tell Lenders About Whether You’re Creditworthy” (WSJ 6/10/19) China’s huge insurer, Ping An, uses facial recognition technology to verify identities as well as to examine expressions for clues about their truthfulness, and to assess risk of the insured (but also to keep agents from skipping meetings). Biometric companies (Aware, Ping An, etc ) are doing very well and payment providers are using the biometric identity verification more and more.
No privacy & cybercrime era Privacy issues are at the top of the list in regards to ethical use of information. Loss of control Misuse of information Risk to physical privacy Risk of identity theft Unwanted intrusions into daily life False rumours Misinformation Spyware & Malware Web bugs Software piracy Cybercrime and abuse
Cybersecurity - Ethical Hacking What so ethical in hacking ? Hackers are labeled “ethical ” or “white hat ” when they are hired by their victims to discover security vulnerabilities and improve the victim’s Cybersecurity
Robotic Ethics ‘AI-powered robots’ are being introduced for automation in healthcare, and on the street as facial recognition software. AI robots can only be as smart and democratic as the data we feed into their algorithms and the persons who use them. it is humans -with all their prejudices – and not aliens from space, who are designing and deploying AI robots in healthcare and society. AI depends on “Big Data” in doctors’ offices, hospitals, and electronic health records & social media data generated by users.
IoT Areas in The Health Sector Fall Detection : to help the physically challenged and elderly people in their lives so that they can live independently; Medical Fridges Some organic elements must be kept in containers with certain conditions (temperature). Sportsmen Care: Apps to measure the Weight, sleep, exercise, blood pressure, for professional athletes; Patient ( elderly) Surveillance: used for remote in-hospital monitoring or home care; Chronic Disease Management : Taking care of patients with chronic diseases -no need of physical attendance. This technology reduces the presence of people in hospitals and results in lower costs, reduces hospital stay and reduces traffic & fuel consumption;
Ultraviolet Radiation: UV rays Measurement and notifying the people not to enter certain areas or refrain of exposure to UV rays at certain hours; Hygienic Hand Control : By linking devices, such as designed RFID for emissions measurement, environmental pollution could be identified; Sleep Control : Devices that by linking to individuals, identifies some signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure during sleep and the data may be collected and will be analyzed after; Dental Health : Bluetooth-enabled Toothbrush with the help of smartphone apps records someone’s brushing information to study the person’s brushing habits and share the statistics with the dentist.
IoT usage in the healthcare sector in Africa It can eliminate inefficiencies such as misdiagnosis, shortage in healthcare workers, and wait and recovery time. However, it is important to safeguard against issues such as privacy breaches, or lack of personalised care and accessibility. IoT and Smart Health facial recognition technologies can create a fertile potential for ‘Big Surveillance’ and thus threaten global democracy and civil rights.
5G Technology According to IEEE ( The I nstitute of E lectrical and E lectronics E ngineers ) 5G is a collection wireless technologies
What is 5G: (2.) Small Cell
Ethical issues Behind 5G 5G is new technology, accompanied by so many controversies. Proponent of 5G tend to abide to Utilitarianism, whilst Exponent of 5G tend to align to deontology.
5G Proponent Ethical Arguments 5G will revolutionize every aspect of our live. benefiting the whole world. Economy and Business. It will improve industries performance, creates jobs, and more economical opportunities. Ergonomics Improving working and technology use IOT, ROBOT 5G will enhance the performance, and introduction of IOT in our daily lives 5G will results into more emphasis into robots instead of human. Equality and Fairness It brings access to many services that were barred to them due to distance and cost issues. It will unlock a lot of economical potential to many individuals. Efficient and uniform platform: It will allow interoperability among electronic devices manufactures.
5G Exponent Ethical Arguments in 2017, a group of 255 EU scientist signed a partition to EU against the deployment of 5G. https:// emfscientist.org/index.php/emf-scientist-appeal Human beings will be exposed to Non-ionizing Electromagnetic Field as 5G requires numerous towers, emitting high frequency waves. C ancer risk, cellular stress, increase in harmful free radicals, genetic damages . Structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and negative impacts on general well-being in humans. Damage to both plant and animal life. W e may end up in a data controlled world.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs ) & Drones. ethical issues associated with the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Public safety is a key concern regarding the deployment of autonomous vehicles, particularly following high-profile deaths associated with the use such vehicles.
For discussion Should a device, a technique or technology be restricted because people can use it for illegal or harmful actions as well as beneficial ones? What do you think works best to protect the health privacy of individuals? What will be the consequence of marrying a robot partner? What is the priority of each IoT application in the health sector? What would happened in case of cyber attacks to IOT devices? Just think being locked in/ out of your residence/office by unknown agent .