ethics washing
In plain wordsUsing talk of ethics, such as principles, advisory boards or pledges, to look responsible and head off regulation, without actually changing what a company does.
The use of ethical language, principles, advisory boards, pledges and partnerships to create an appearance of responsibility that substitutes for, rather than produces, changes in behavior or binding accountability. Indicators include voluntary principles without enforcement mechanisms or metrics, ethics boards without power or independence, selective transparency, and lobbying against regulation on the grounds that self-governance suffices. A related practice, ethics shopping, involves picking from the many available frameworks the one that demands least. The critique does not reject ethics work as such; it holds that ethics must be backed by law, independent oversight and a real possibility of declining to build or ship a product.
Announcing an ethics council the week the bill was debated looked like ethics washing to most of the committee.
Origin
Modeled on 'whitewashing' and 'greenwashing'. Ben Wagner's 'Ethics as an Escape from Regulation: From Ethics-Washing to Ethics-Shopping?' (2018) set out the concept; philosopher Thomas Metzinger, a member of the EU's High-Level Expert Group on AI, applied it to the group's 2019 guidelines. Google's AI ethics advisory council, dissolved about a week after its 2019 launch, became a much-cited example.
Related
- AI washingAI washing, n.: Falsely claiming that a product or company uses AI, or exaggerating how much it does, to look more advanced and attract customers or investors.
- AI ethicsAI ethics, n.: The study of what is right and wrong in how AI is built and used: who it may harm, who is responsible when it fails, and which values it should respect.
- responsible AIresponsible AI, n.: An umbrella name for the practices organizations use to keep their AI systems fair, safe, private and accountable, from the first design meeting to everyday use.
- AI governanceAI governance, n.: The rules, institutions and habits that shape how AI is built and used — from laws and treaties to technical standards and a company's own review processes.
- AI for goodAI for good, n.: Using AI to tackle social and environmental problems, such as disease, poverty, disasters or climate change, rather than only to make a profit.
- algorithmic accountabilityalgorithmic accountability, n.: The idea that the people and organizations behind automated decision systems must be able to explain and justify those systems' effects, answer for the harm they cause, and fix it.
- AI regulationAI regulation, n.: Laws and binding government rules about artificial intelligence: what AI may be used for, what checks its makers must run, and what penalties apply when they break the rules.
Sources
- Wagner, B. (2018). Ethics as an Escape from Regulation: From Ethics-Washing to Ethics-Shopping? In E. Bayamlıoğlu et al. (eds.), Being Profiled: Cogitas Ergo Sum. Amsterdam University Press.
- Floridi, L. (2019). Translating Principles into Practices of Digital Ethics: Five Risks of Being Unethical. Philosophy & Technology 32, 185–193.
Mentioned in
AI ethicsAI ethics, n.: The study of what is right and wrong in how AI is built and used: who it may harm, who is responsible when it fails, and which values it should respect., AI for goodAI for good, n.: Using AI to tackle social and environmental problems, such as disease, poverty, disasters or climate change, rather than only to make a profit., AI washingAI washing, n.: Falsely claiming that a product or company uses AI, or exaggerating how much it does, to look more advanced and attract customers or investors., responsible AIresponsible AI, n.: An umbrella name for the practices organizations use to keep their AI systems fair, safe, private and accountable, from the first design meeting to everyday use., techno-solutionismtechno-solutionism, n.: The belief that technology, such as a clever app or algorithm, can fix complicated social problems on its own, overlooking their political, economic and human causes.