FCAI Ethics Exercise Tool eases ethical examination of artificial intelligence research
The Ethical Advisory Board of FCAI has prepared a tool for ethical self-evaluation for the use of its researchers. The tool helps researchers identify, ponder, and clarify ethical, societal, and legal questions related to their research.
Illustration: Saara Halmetoja
Finland is a pioneer in technology and societal development in the world.
“We can also be pioneers in developing ethical and responsible thinking in technology”, says Jaana Leikas, who chairs the Ethical Advisory Board of the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence FCAI.
Tool helps avoid shoals
FCAI artificial intelligence research, a flagship of the Academy of Finland, aims at artificial intelligence based on sustainable solutions, which is capable of both learning and planning, and which works in cooperation with people in solving complex problems. Trust and ethics are naturally key problems in research.
The ethical issues of artificial intelligence have attracted widespread attention. Problems related to social contexts and human behaviour get greater emphasis in artificial intelligence than in traditional technologies. As a new area of research, the ethics of artificial intelligence certainly emerges from value questions of the ethics of traditional technology, such as the status of citizens, democracy, and fairness. The operationalisation of these questions in the context of artificial intelligence nevertheless requires an analytical approach and new tools.
The perspective from which the new tool developed by FCAI experts is examined varies from individual projects to entire research programs, and it is to be used iteratively in the planning, implementation, and communication of research. The tool comprises various thematic questions that researchers should consider in their research groups in the different phases of a project.
The first, general goal of the tool is to link the results of research to a broader societal context through ethical consideration. The frame for systematic thinking of futures that are, and are not desired, helps in averting shoals and in guiding research toward the greater common good. The second immediate goal of the tool is to help FCAI researchers identify and resolve ethical and societal problems related to their own work, where consideration of the impacts is also required by an increasing number of publication forums and funding instruments of research.
Awareness is important
The tool is based on the assumption that ethical consideration cannot be outsourced, because of its dependence on context: answering ethical questions is the responsibility of researchers working with the problem. Therefore, researchers need to awaken to ethics and try to sufficiently understand the context from which ethical questions emerge. Bringing other fields of science into a shared discussion considerably helps in the examination of ethical conflicts.
“We have sought to make the tool as easy to use as possible”, says Jaana Leikas.
The tool can be found on the website of the FCAI Ethical Advisory Board and therefore it is easily accessible. As the subject of ethics in artificial intelligence is multipolar and broad, the challenge has been to form the questions to be considered in a way that helps the tool serve as many researchers as possible.
“We have achieved our goals, as the researchers are using the tool to contemplate ethical and societal questions and to discuss them. Immediate answers might not be forthcoming right away, but starting a discussion is essential if our understanding of ethical questions is to increase. Analytical discourse helps us visualize the world and the value choices of our own research. Moving forward is not possible based on feelings alone.”
The idea of the FCAI Ethics Exercise Tool is based on four complementary points of view. Anticipation, involving careful consideration of the sought-after and accidental consequences of research and innovation activities. Reflexivity of one's own actions, in which possible assumptions and commitments are considered, which might affect research work. Inclusion, in which the relevant stakeholders are included in open dialogue on the desired and unwanted consequences of the research, and predisposition and responsiveness: seeking the right direction for research in accordance with the visions and values that have emerged through the processes that have been raised.
“The tool challenges us to understand how a researcher or research group can anticipate ethical conflicts on the one hand, and to alter the progression of an ongoing project if ethical examination requires it”, Leikas says.
The FCAI Ethical Advisory Board would like to get feedback from researchers in the use of the tool.
“It is the only way to develop the tool further in order to get the greatest possible benefit, and the ethical operating culture of FCAI can develop”, says Patrik Floréen, the Secretary of the Board.
“Of course, not all questions are equally significant for all programs and projects, but it is useful to carefully consider which questions might be significant and which might not.”
The Ethical Advisory Board works in support of researchers in this examination. In addition to the Ethics Exercise Tool, each FCAI organization has its own legal and ethical guidelines as well as instructions related to data management and the secure handling of personal information.
Jaana Leikas, Chairperson, VTT
Patrik Floréen, Secretary, University of Helsinki
Jaana Hallamaa, University of Helsinki
Riikka Koulu, University of Helsinki
Jaakko Lehtinen, Aalto University
Karoliina Snell, University of Helsinki
Also taking part in the development of the group has been Leo Kärkkäinen of Aalto University, a member of the EU High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI HLEG).