Ethics and Artificial Intelligence
Soon, each of us could be living in a house or apartment with an AI-based, electronic gatekeeper. This gatekeeper lets in trades, delivery, and postal services when we are not at home. He makes sure that only the rooms that we have approved for craftsmen are entered. The porter also passes on instructions and, conversely, accepts messages for us. As desirable as such an intelligent gatekeeper would be for many of us, it also raises questions.
How can it be ensured that the system is not misused and that unauthorized persons gain access? Where and how is the data stored that is processed to run this smart service? Is it really always the person who decides who is allowed into the building, or is there a risk that the programmed acting technology will also decide "obstinately" and without considering people and possibly discriminate? How far can AI support go before it becomes patronizing?
The ForeSight project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) as part of the AI innovation competition, includes these and other ethical issues in the development, testing, and application of smart living services. The term smart living includes all smart services in the building sector. They range from smart energy management for the efficient operation of heating, cooling, and ventilation to smart building management for the automated monitoring and evaluation of maintenance and operational tasks to smart assistance offers, e.g. B.for senior housing. The project is developing a platform and bringing together the key players in the subject area: the housing industry, the electrical industry, the digital economy, technology providers for buildings, associations, science, and trade. The aim is to show future-oriented possibilities for the economical operation of the building based on artificial intelligence (AI).
Smart living technologies not only offer more comfort, but they also protect the climate by increasing the energy efficiency of buildings. For such an advantage to be used, smart living applications must be accepted by people in everyday life and must be trustworthy. People should be able to correctly assess the benefits and also possible risks. This works best if people's needs are taken into account at an early stage in the development of smart services.
ForeSight has developed a code of ethics that puts people at the center of technology development. Rules ”, a practical guide from the Bertelsmann Foundation. What the sets of rules have in common is that they target ethical principles that AI systems must comply with respect for human autonomy, damage prevention, fairness, and explainability. The ForeSight Code provides developers with seven core indicators to review in smart living.
ethical indicators for AI
1. Primacy of human action and human oversight
Technology should never have the say. A paternalism of people by AI must be ruled out. At the same time, this indicator shows that artificial intelligence cannot be ethical in and of itself. There can therefore be no such thing as an “ethics algorithm” of any kind that calculates what is ethical and what is unethical. Ethical behavior is to be negotiated between people and cannot be dictated by "the machine".
2. Technical robustness and security
AI must be reliable and guard against harm. For example, the intelligent porter must be able to reliably identify who is allowed into the building and who is not
3. Privacy protection and data quality management
Data protection and personal rights must be respected. The data must also be checked for its integrity, for example, whether it is used to discriminate unlawfully or unfairly.
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