Artificial intelligence and the role of ethics

An ethical approach to AI does not function as bicycle brake on an intercontinental airplane. Ethics does not put insufficient brakes on progress. It does, however, asks how principles and values that are important for a democratic society can be translated into a digital democratic society. Beyond discussions of transparency, accountability, explainability, fairness and trustworthiness, this text focusses on two major issues: representation gaps – where minorities and a majority (women) are under- or misrepresented in data; and data silhouettes – where the body, the self and human life seems to be deciphered by data alone. Ethical reasoning thus insists that the non-quantifiable areas of human life are as important as any quantifiable aspects. An extensive quantification of the social, the political and the individual person must be continuously examined for its effects. Good regulation is not an obstacle to research and business, but that is necessary to create trust in AI systems.