I published this post on The Ten Commandments of AI in 2018:
The Bishop of Oxford, who sits on the House of Lords artificial intelligence committee, has come up with a ten commandments of AI:
AI should be designed for all, and benefit humanity.
AI should operate on principles of transparency and fairness, and be well signposted.
AI should not be used to transgress the data rights and privacy of individuals, families, or communities.
The application of AI should be to reduce inequality of wealth, health, and opportunity.
AI should not be used for criminal intent, nor to subvert the values of our democracy, nor truth, nor courtesy in public discourse.
The primary purpose of AI should be to enhance and augment, rather than replace, human labour and creativity.
All citizens have the right to be adequately educated to flourish mentally, emotionally, and economically in a digital and artificially intelligent world.
AI should never be developed or deployed separately from consideration of the ethical consequences of its applications.
The autonomous power to hurt or destroy should never be vested in artificial intelligence.
Governments should ensure that the best research and application of AI is directed toward the most urgent problems facing humanity.
I like them; they provide an essential dimension to this debate.
The link I originally supplied no longer works.
Now, commentator Cliff B has offered another variation on this theme:
Remember my 10 Commandments for AI? I sent them in a letter to the FT. They didn't publish it. I sent them to my MP, Anna Sabine. No reply. Pity. Here they are again, for old time's sake. I think they might have been useful.
1. AI shall serve humanity, not govern it.
2. Human authority shall prevail over machine output.
3. AI shall not decide matters of rights or liberty without human judgement.
4. Responsibility for AI use shall rest with humans, never machines.
5. People shall be told when AI affects decisions about their lives.
6. Everyone shall have the right to human review and appeal.
7. AI shall not deceive, manipulate or impersonate.
8. AI shall not enable unjust surveillance or profiling.
9. The public good shall prevail over profit or power.
10. AI shall remain a tool, never an authority.
Both are worth reflecting on. AI is not following these rules.
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Clear guidelines like these would actually benefit the AI industry, as well as the rest of us. AI systems themselves depend upon social stability. If AI contributes to widespread insecurity, inequality, or institutional distrust, the economic environment sustaining the AI industry deteriorates as well. Consumer demand weakens. Political reactions intensify. Litigation increases. Regulation becomes harsher. Social consent fragments.
And the same principle applies to taxation. A broad restructuring of how productivity gains are socially shared is necessary because AI will significantly alter labour markets.
The AI industry, along with all of us, will need a sustained stable, legitimate and democratic society as economic output becomes progressively less dependent on human labour.