Guiding ethics principles for the Cognitive Era

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IBM is in a transition from being a "Systems, Software and Services" company, to become the leading "Cognitive Solutions and Cloud Platform" company. IBM has been in this transformation for the past three years or so, and [over 40 percent of its revenue] now comes from these strategic initiatives.

Last week, I wrote two blog posts on cognitive solutions. [Pascal Compilers, Voltage Thresholds and Vending Machines] and [How Artificial Intelligence (AI) is depicted in movies].

This month at the [World Economic Forum], IBM's CEO Ginni Rometty presented [IBM's guiding ethics principles for the Cognitive Era]:

Purpose:

The purpose of AI and cognitive systems developed and applied by the IBM company is to augment human intelligence. Our technology, products, services and policies will be designed to enhance and extend human capability, expertise and potential. Our position is based not only on principle but also on science.

Cognitive systems will not realistically attain consciousness or independent agency. Rather, they will increasingly be embedded in the processes, systems, products and services by which business and society function -- all of which will and should remain within human control.

Transparency:

For cognitive systems to fulfill their world-changing potential, it is vital that people have confidence in their recommendations, judgments and uses. Therefore, the IBM company will make clear:

• When and for what purposes AI is being applied in the cognitive solutions we develop and deploy.
   
• The major sources of data and expertise that inform the insights of cognitive solutions, as well as the methods used to train those systems and solutions.
   
• The principle that clients own their own business models and intellectual property and that they can use AI and cognitive systems to enhance the advantages they have built, often through years of experience. We will work with our clients to protect their data and insights, and will encourage our clients, partners and industry colleagues to adopt similar practices.

Skills:

The economic and societal benefits of this new era will not be realized if the human side of the equation is not supported. This is uniquely important with cognitive technology, which augments human intelligence and expertise and works collaboratively with humans.

Therefore, the IBM company will work to help students, workers and citizens acquire the skills and knowledge to engage safely, securely and effectively in a relationship with cognitive systems, and to perform the new kinds of work and jobs that will emerge in a cognitive economy.

[138 page PDF]

IBM is not alone in thinking about this. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) gathered more than 100 experts to [draft a report on Ethical Design for AI.]

The report is open to review and feedback. It is organized into eight sections:

1. General Principles
2. Embedding values into Autonomous Intelligent Systems
3. Methodologies to Guide Ethical Research and Design
4. Safety and Beneficence of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI)
5. Personal Data and Individual Access Control
6. Reframing Autonomous Weapon Systems
7. Economics/Humanitarian Issues
8. Law

The developments in Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Solutions can have a huge impact to society, so I am glad to see policy makers are investigating and thinking on how to proceed.

technorati tags: IBM, Ginni Rometty, Ethics, IEEE,Cognitive Era, Cognitive Solutions, Cognitive Systems, Artificial Intelligence