What Is AI Ethics?

This article provides a definition and some examples of AI ethics. Essentially, they're self-imposed rules those in the AI space set up to make sure AI technology doesn't go down the wrong path.

What Is AI Ethics?

AI ethics aim to ensure that artificial intelligence programs conduct themselves both legally and morally. For example, developers may want to ensure that their software treats users fairly when chatting with them, doesn't use content they don't have the right to use, and can't be weaponized by someone looking to cause harm.

As AI becomes more prevalent in web clients, search engines, and social media, laws and regulations may mandate some version of ethics. Presently, however, they're largely self-imposed by scientists, developers, and companies working within the AI space.

Some big brands today have entire teams dedicated to creating ethical AI policies, practices, and ethics. Understandably, many are wary or even afraid of AI, so having ethics set up to decide what it should and shouldn't do is important to many different people.

There isn't one set of AI ethics that everyone follows, and certain people or companies may not necessarily follow AI ethics, either. This setup is similar to how food companies often have different standards for the ethical raising and treatment of animals.

What Are Examples of AI Ethics?

One AI ethic might be respecting the work of creators. This rule could mean crediting human work that may have been used to train a particular AI and providing fair compensation to creators whose work was used by an AI to create something else.

Another example of an AI ethic might be to avoid bias. A chatbot like ChatGPT, for instance, won't express discriminatory or prejudicial ideas. It could also mean that an AI will only answer a question by citing actual data.

Do We Need AI Ethics?

Many science-fiction books, shows, and movies tell stories about unrestrained and unregulated artificial intelligence running amok, and this worst-case scenario is exactly what AI ethics are meant to help us avoid.

An AI might be able to explain how to build a bomb, for example, but providing that information likely wouldn't lead to good outcomes. Ethics would restrict it from giving out specific instructions.

So, AI ethics set up guidelines that developers can follow as they work on artificial-intelligence technology. An ethic might be to not do any harm, so a chatbot might be restricted from saying certain things, providing certain information, or using certain language.

Censorship isn't particularly well-liked, but realistically, AI without any kinds of safety measures or limitations built-in could cause a great deal of harm. Therefore, AI ethics are important, especially as AI technology gets more advanced and more people use it.

Are You Required to Follow AI Ethics?

AI ethics are rarely legally protected, nor is there one particular set of AI ethics that everyone agrees upon. So, in many ways, you aren't necessarily required to follow AI ethics.

A chatbot like FreedomGPT is aimed at offering an uncensored version of a service like ChatGPT. To some, ChatGPT is too restrictive in what it will and will not let you do. To others, a service like FreedomGPT could be used by bad actors for nefarious purposes.

Depending on what context you're talking about, though, there are popular guidelines, like the Belmont Report. This document offers up a set of ethics for guiding AI research and the development of algorithms, like respect for persons, beneficence, and justice.

OpenAI's charter is a set of AI ethics that includes principles like broadly distributed beliefs, long-term safety, technical leadership, and cooperative orientation. Under these guidelines, the developers at OpenAI develop the popular ChatGPT AI chatbot.