Artificial Intelligence and Ethics by Tarnveer Singh

Author:Tarnveer Singh [Singh, Tarnveer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781040164860
Published: 2024-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Inequality and Concentration of Power

DOI: 10.1201/9781003502708-18

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technology have revolutionised industries, promising increased efficiency and productivity. However, concerns have been raised about the potential negative impacts of AI on social inequalities and the concentration of power. As a result, we must consider the ethical implications of AI, specifically focussing on issues of inequality and the concentration of power among a few dominant players in the industry. By understanding these challenges, we can work towards developing responsible AI systems that benefit society as a whole.

The advent of AI and automation is expected to bring about changes in employment, creating both job losses and new forms of employment. However, concerns arise regarding the quality and nature of these new jobs. While new jobs may require highly skilled workers, they can often be repetitive and dull, leading to what has been termed ‘white-collar sweatshops.’ These jobs involve tasks such as tagging and moderating content, which can be mentally and emotionally draining for workers. This additional human cost must be considered when assessing the benefits of AI to society.

Building AI systems often requires individuals to manage and clean up data for training algorithms. This has given rise to new categories of jobs, including scanning and identifying offensive content for deletion, manually tagging objects in images, and interpreting queries that AI chatbots cannot understand. These jobs, collectively known as ‘mechanical Turk,’ have created a global industry that operates outside the protection of labour laws. Millions of individuals are employed in this on-demand gig economy, often facing precarious conditions and inadequate compensation.

The ethical issue lies in the fact that these temporary workers, who play an essential role in the functioning of AI technologies, are not equitably reimbursed for their work. Many of these workers reside in countries outside the EU or the United States, where there is a growing data-labelling industry. Furthermore, workers involved in vetting offensive content for media platforms like Facebook and YouTube face mental health issues, poor working conditions, and inadequate support.

To address these ethical concerns, it is crucial to make the worker’s inputs more transparent in the end-product, ensuring an equitable distribution of benefits. Additionally, appropriate support structures and improved working conditions should be provided to workers dealing with psychologically harmful content. By addressing these issues, we can mitigate the exploitation of workers in the AI industry.

AI has the potential to bring significant benefits to society, including increased efficiency, productivity, and improvements in various domains such as poverty alleviation, disease control, and conflict resolution. However, it is essential to ensure that these benefits are not accumulated unequally and that they are accessible to as many people as possible.

The US report on AI, automation, and the economy highlights the importance of preventing the unequal accumulation of benefits. Rather than leaving the development of AI to an inevitable outcome determined solely by technology, the report emphasises the role of non-technical incentives and policies in shaping the future of AI. Inventors and developers of AI systems have a responsibility to consider the wider impacts of their creations and ensure that potential benefits are distributed fairly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.