Ethical Response To The Dilemma Caused To A Caring Person

How Ethical Response To The Dilemma Do Caused To A Caring Person?

 

Introduction

This is a business management assignment dealing with ethical business issues involved in application of Artificial Intelligence used in cars. The person mentioned in the case study is John who is a consultant specialised in machine learning. Prior to the launching of the cars, certain tests and modelling of accident scenarios had to be done. It was ideal that the modelling was done prior to the cars getting released into the roads (Bostrom and Yudkowsky, 2014). Thus the current business report will provide ethical analysis with respect to various issues that get created from the case study. The ethical dilemma that could occur to John, the Artificial Intelligence consultant will be discussed. The impact of the AI driven cars on the consultant and the customers will be determined. These impacts will involve dilemmas. This will require ethical solutions and responses (Anderson and Anderson, 2011). Continuous application of principles will create dilemmas for which solutions have to be provided. The role and duties of the AI consultant have to be determined in such cases. Ethical responses will be provided to the dilemmas occurring to a reasonable man. There are six ethical values mentioned in the ACS Code of Professional Conduct. The code has to be examined and the requirements have to be explained with respect to the case study (Korb and Nicholson, 2010). The possible defences on ethical basis have to be discussed with respect to John. In the end, reasons and solutions to the ethical dilemma have to be provided.

Ethical Analysis

Ethical dilemma of John

In the present case John is a paid employee of the electric car company. His decisions will be limited to his role. However he is supposed to be responsible towards the clients and has to ensure that their health and safety is taken care of. This is with respect to possible occurrences of accident. Tests and modelling had to be conducted to make sure that the cars were accident proof. On the other hand he had to make sure that the company he was working for earned profits from the project (Yampolskiy, 2013). He had to make sure that sufficient profits are made to cover up the cost of innovation. He has to make sure that technology management is user friendly and at the same time include all necessary facets of innovation. The technology had to be made cost effective and at the same time useful for the customers.

Ethical responses to John and customers of the cars

The project will have different impacts on both John, the AI consultant and the customers of the cars. In case the technology is successful and is able to help autonomy of the customers, it would be in more demand in the market. The company would hire more consultants like John for developing the technology. On the basis of the profits earned, more expenditure will be made on the research and development. John and his team might get promoted for their contribution (Frankish and Ramsey, 2014). He might have better career prospective within the company. On the other hand if the technology fails and does not help the service users, his position in the company might be at risk. The company may sack off John and other people on the success of artificial intelligence. However the dilemma arising in such cases are the harmful impacts of artificial intelligence (Yampolskiy, 2013). Human effort cannot be reduced as there is continuous need for research and development. This is to ensure that future impacts on the customers of the cars are positive.

Dilemma occurring from application of principles and John’s role in such scenarios

When a certain set of principles are applied they may lead to a certain result. It can be either positive or negative in nature. In the present case scenario, the principles applied are in respect of using artificial intelligence in cars. However by simply following mechanical rules, the outcome becomes unpredictable. It is impossible to judge the success or failure of following a certain set of rules. In such cases the role of the AI consultant comes into play. He will be able to judge the direction or possible outcome of implementing certain methods. Human effort is required to ensure that certain outcomes are made favourable (Yampolskiy, 2012). Simply applying principles would provide results but beyond the control of the people. Thus logic and reason must be used simultaneously to reduce the uncertainty caused by the implementation of principles.

Ethical response to the dilemma caused to a caring person

Several dilemmas occur to a person of reason who works for an organisation. He has to keep a balance between his roles and responsibilities. He has to show his efficiency to his employers by ensuring that his work is productive and is profitable for the organisation. However they also have a moral responsibility towards the people who are going to be affected by the products or services that are provided to the people involved with the organisation (Frankish and Ramsey, 2014). Thus a balance has to be maintained to ensure that the service of the person is profitable as well as safe.

Use of the ACS Code of Professional Conduct with respect to the case study

ACS stands for Australian Computer Society. It encompasses people who are working in the field of communications and information technology. The code of professional conduct has been formulated for spreading the culture of business ethics and for the ultimate benefit of the end users of information technology. If the pertinent code is disregarded it could be used to penalise organisation on the ground of professional negligence ("ACS Code of Professional Conduct Professional Standards", 2014). Those organisations who neglect to follow the code are subject to disciplinary action on the part of ACS. Thus under the code there are certain values and requirements which have to be adhered by members of the society. The most important value is giving importance to public interest. This means that private and organisational interest should be kept aside by the electric car company and should focus more on interest of the general public. The company should ensure that the profit of the business and the interests of the stakeholders are taken into consideration. However, they should ensure that they remain faithful and exercise their corporate social responsibility towards their customers ("ACS Code of Professional Conduct Professional Standards", 2014). Thus while conducting their activities they have to consult with stakeholders regarding any conflict arising due their professional activities. They also have take into account any legal requirements mentioned in any documents.

The company in this case has to make sure that the development of information technology management and communication leads to improvement in the quality of life of the society. This is because development of information technology has also created negative impacts. Thus the company should ensure that the artificial intelligence used in the cars result in enhancement of standards of life (Lin et al., 2011). The company should remain trustworthy to the public as well as stake holders. Thus the company should ensure that their decisions and actions are in line with integrity and honesty. The company should ensure that the clients are aware of all information regarding the application of artificial intelligence. The company should deliver only that service for which they have confidence and competence. They should take responsibility of their work. They should continuously involve in research and development to keep their skills up to date (Muehlhauser and Salamon, 2012). They should adhere to professional standards and maintain the image of the of the ICT industry.

Defences for John

John cannot be held responsible for passing the mechanisms of the car since it was the decision of the company to carry out the launch at the earliest. He had already mentioned to the CEO and the IT managers regarding the modelling of accidents scenarios being incomplete since he knew the ultimate impact could be problematic.

Conclusion

The instant assignment is in the form of a business report. In the case study the electric car company had breached the code of ethics as they had taken steps which were contrary to public welfare. They did not complete the safety tests and accident scenario modelling which had put the safety of the public at risk (Burmeister, 2013). John had taken sufficient safety measures and was still intent to continue the tests for some more time. It seems that the company had succumbed to profit motives and personal interests. They have flouted the primary value mentioned under the code of conducts mentioned in the rules of Australian Computer Society.

References

ACS Code of Professional Conduct Professional Standards. (2014). www.acs.org.au. Retrieved 2 May 2017, from https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-documents/ACS%20Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf

Anderson, M., & Anderson, S. L. (Eds.). (2011). Machine ethics. Cambridge University Press.

Bostrom, N., & Yudkowsky, E. (2014). The ethics of artificial intelligence. The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, 316-334.

Burmeister, O. K. (2013). Achieving the goal of a global computing code of ethics through an international-localisation hybrid. Ethical Space, 10(4), 25-32.

Frankish, K., & Ramsey, W. M. (Eds.). (2014). The Cambridge handbook of artificial intelligence. Cambridge University Press.

Korb, K. B., & Nicholson, A. E. (2010). Bayesian artificial intelligence. CRC press.

Lin, P., Abney, K., & Bekey, G. A. (2011). Robot ethics: the ethical and social implications of robotics. MIT press.

Muehlhauser, L., & Salamon, A. (2012). Intelligence explosion: Evidence and import. In Singularity Hypotheses (pp. 15-42). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Yampolskiy, R. (2012). Leakproofing the singularity artificial intelligence confinement problem. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 19(1-2), 194-214.

Yampolskiy, R. V. (2013). Artificial intelligence safety engineering: Why machine ethics is a wrong approach. In Project management and Theory of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 389-396). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.