Five of the world’s largest tech companies—Google’s
Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft—had by September 2016 been
working out the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, transportation, and
the general welfare.[1]
The basic intention was “to ensure that A.I. research is focused on benefiting
people, not hurting them.”[2]
The underlying ethical theory is premised on a utilitarian consequentialism
wherein benefit is maximized while harm is minimized. The ethics of whether the
companies should be joining together when the aim is to forestall government
regulation is less clear, given the checkered pass of industry self-regulation
and the conflict of interest involved,
The full essay is at "Tech Industry Self-Regulation."
[1]
John Markoff, “Devising Real Ethics for Artificial Intelligence,” The New York Times, September 2, 2016.
[2]
Ibid.
