Pew Research released a report predicting the state of AI ethics in 10 years. The primary question was: will AI systems have robust ethical principles focused on the common good by 2030? Of the over 600 experts who responded, 2/3 did not believe this would happen. Yet, this was not the most surprising thing about the report. Looking over the selection of responders, there was no clergy or academics of religion included. In the burgeoning field of AI ethics research, we are missing the millenary wisdom of religious voices.
Reasons to Worry and Hope
In a follow-up webinar, the research group presented the 7 main findings from the survey. They are the following:
Concerning Findings
1. There is no consensus on how to define AI ethics. Context, nature and power of actors are important.
2. Leading actors are large companies and governments that may not have the public interest at the center of their considerations.
3. AI is already deployed through opaque systems that are impossible to dissect. This is the infamous “black box” problem pervasive in most machine learning algorithms.
4. The AI race between China and the United States will shape the direction of development more than anything else. Furthermore, there are rogue actors that could also cause a lot of trouble
Hopeful Findings
5. AI systems design will be enhanced by AI itself which should speed up the mitigation of harmful effects.
6. Humanity has made acceptable adjustments to similar new technology in the past. Users have the power to bent AI uses towards their benefit.
7. There is widespread recognition of the challenges of AI. In the last decade, awareness has increased significantly resulting in efforts to regulate and curb AI abuses. The EU has led the way in this front.
Widening the Table of AI Ethics with Faith
This eye-opening report confirms many trends we have addressed in this blog. In fact, the very existence of AI theology is proof of #7, showing that awareness is growing. Yet, I would add another concerning trend to the list above which is the narrow group of people in the AI ethics dialogue table. The field remains dominated by academic and industry leaders. However, the impact of AI is so ubiquitous that we cannot afford this lack of diversity.
Hopefully, this is starting to change. A recent New York Times piece outlines efforts of the AI and Faith network. The group consists of an impressive list of clergy, ethicists, and technologists who want to bring their faith values to the table. They seek to introduce the diverse universe of religious faith in AI ethics providing new questions and insights into this important task.
If we are to face the challenge of AI, why not start by consulting thousands of years of human wisdom? It is time we add religious voices to the AI ethics table as a purely secular approach will ostracize the majority of the human population.
We ignore them to our peril.