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Societal and Moral Questioning Around AI and Its Ecosystem
From autonomous cars to facial or voice recognition, artificial intelligence (AI) has developed and structured itself in a spectacular way over the last 5 years and is now part of our daily life and close environment. The widespread use of algorithmic applications feeds our imaginations, hypnotized by the promise of a better world, where the computing power of machines could reduce or even eliminate illnesses, accidents and crimes. At the same time, a growing doubt about AI is beginning to develop, portraying the technology and its exponential progression as a potential danger to the survival of humanity. Indeed, by the end of 2017, entrepreneur Elon Musk – the charismatic head of Tesla and Space X, among others – believed that efforts to make AI safe had a 5–10% chance of success. In doing so, he reaffirmed his earlier prediction that there was a risk that something very dangerous was going to happen within the next 5–10 years. At the heart of the concerns is technological singularity, a concept that predicts a runaway technological progress that could lead to the advent of a superhuman AI that would have autonomous capabilities to improve and evolve.
Moreover, there is no development of AI without the exploitation of gigantic volumes of data (Big Data). Indeed, we have to keep in mind that the computer without information can neither learn nor automate human action. AI stores the information that humans decide to give it. Failing to limit the collection of data, it would be appropriate to control its use and protection. As a result, the acquisition, storage, consumption and management of this Big Data are two decisive requirements for any contemporary society. So, with the digital revocation of AI and Big Data, all businesses and organizations have become aware of the potential that lies before them.
Now they want to highlight this relevant information and take full advantage of it. But how do you leverage accessible information while ensuring that you have a high-performance ecosystem in place to store, analyze and develop it? The emergence of algorithmic systems also raises the anxiety of a world guided and controlled by digital logic. To what extent can we leave the control of our contemporary societies to algorithms and those who design them? How can we guarantee the confidentiality of our private lives from the growing appetite of machines fed by the collection of personal data? How do we prepare for the upheavals and consequences that AI will bring about in many professional sectors? These are all questions that will be the subject of reflection in Chapter 2.
In order to pragmatically apprehend and understand these issues centered on human dignity and its fulfillment, we introduce four challenges and perspectives offered to society by AI (Floridi et al. 2018):
- – whom can we become (autonomous self-realization): AI can assist in self-realization, i.e. the ability of individuals to develop in terms of their own characteristics, interests, potential abilities or skills, aspirations and projects;
- – what we can do: AI allows us to improve and multiply the possibilities of human representation. Responsibility is paramount, given the kind of AI we develop, how we use it, and how much we share with all of its advantages and benefits. AI applications could help, if designed effectively, amplify and strengthen distributed and shared moral systems;
- – what we can achieve (individual and societal abilities): if we rely on the use of AI-related technologies to increase our work capacities, we will be able to delegate certain tasks and especially decisions concerning autonomous systems that must remain at least in part subject to supervision and human choice. It is, therefore, becoming essential to find a balance between, on the one hand, the pursuit of the ambitious prospects and opportunities offered by AI to improve human life and what we can achieve, and, on the other hand, to ensure that we remain masters of these major developments and their impact on human society;
- – how we can interact with each other and with the world (society, cohesion): AI can go a long way in dealing with such complex coordination, supporting more societal cohesion and collaboration, without undermining human dignity and without eroding human self-determination.
1.1. Use cases of AI
Now, AI applications are invading all sectors of activity and professional spheres of the company. Algorithmic uses are tirelessly multiplying and diversifying a little more every day. In each case, AI can be used to enhance human nature and its performance, creating actual opportunities that must be seized and well used (see Table 1.1).
Table 1.1. AI use cases by industry
| Cities and local authorities | Increase user access to public services: - – free up agent time by freeing them from repetitive tasks;
- – guarantee universal access to public service by breaking down the language barrier.
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| Simplify citizens’ lives and experiences: ensuring the efficiency of shared services. |
| Optimize the management of the public budget: make the funding coincide with the actual consumption of goods. |
| Education | Better meet the needs of students: - – prevent school and academic dropout;
- – support students outside of the institution;
- – support students in their choices.
|
Transform learning: - – promote learning to read;
- – propose personalized courses.
|
Assist teachers: - – allow teachers to spend as much time as possible with their students;
- – offer teachers feedback on their courses.
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| Change the report to information. |
| Streamline registration procedures. |
| Banking and insurance | In customer relationships: - – develop commercial relationship;
- – save time;
- – speak the same language as the client.
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| Reduce risk and fraud: fraud identification and anti-money laundering. |
Create new business models: - – combine different businesses through data aggregation;
- – manage large numbers of investment simulations;
- – the creation of new products to support healthcare professionals in their daily practices.
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| Health | AI for better public health: detection and treatment: - – revolutionize medical imaging;
- – harmonize care processes and support the doctor in their application;
- – generate alerts and reminders to healthcare professionals and/or patients;
- – review therapy and care planning;
- – recognize medical images and interpret them (radiology, ophthalmology, dermatology, etc.);
- – assist in paramedical care (paramedical humanoid robot);
- – assist in medical decision-making and establish predictive analyses via a diagnostic assistant;
- – enable communication interfaces between patients and healthcare professionals via a conversational agent (chat-bots) (conversational oncology);
- – monitor patients in real time and adjust their treatments to their individual situation;
- – make an earlier and more accurate diagnosis;
- – access to new knowledge;
- – improve the flow of the city hospital route;
- – reduce costs and pool resources.
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| Retail | Lead the customer to the store: - – multiply access points: voice;
- – multiply access points: images.
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Transform the buying journey and improve customer relations: - – make the customer’s journey through the store more fluid;
- – provide an interactive customer experience;
- – adapt products to customers’ needs and desires;
- – use facial recognition for various actions toward the customer;
- – offer customers the assistance of a personal digital assistant (PDA).
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Empower employees to do more by being more efficient: - – facilitate the maintenance of in-store shelves;
- – alert employees when a customer needs them;
- – proposals targeted to the user.
Optimize operations: - – optimize the organization of stores and promote sales;
- – use customer data;
- – optimize inventory and inventory management;
- – optimize the delivery of orders and reduce costs.
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| Manufacturing industry | Optimize the production chain: - – optimize the flow of production lines;
- – optimize the quality of the production lines.
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Improve the maintenance process: - – predictive maintenance;
- – facilitate the work of maintenance agents.
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