IFA International 2019 DAY 1 Edition

MACHINES AS ADVISORS:
HOW FAR WILL IT ALL GO?
Robert Sparrow’s presentation at
this year’s IFA+ Summit centres on
“How relying upon machines to give
us advice might corrode our ability
to reason about ends”. We asked him
to tell us more.
It’s true that people already find it difficult to
reason about means. No-one can read maps
anymore, no-one can do maths anymore,
and no-one can spell anymore. The dominant
understanding is that it is fine to hand off that
kind of thing to machines, because we get to
choose our own ends. Increasingly, however,
people are asking digital agents broader
questions, like “How do I find a boyfriend?”
or “What should I do today?”, which appear
to be questions about ends. I look at the
connection between reasoning about means
and reasoning about ends, as well as whether
it matters. Does this advice differ from selfhelp
books, for instance? I can pick up a selfhelp
book which tells me how to lead my life
better. If I had an app on my phone, would that
be any different?
Who should come to your talk?
Anyone interested in what it means to be
human in the age of digital assistants. How
can you retain your agency and your humanity
when interacting with very powerful devices
that might well be quite morally dangerous?
This is about how these systems are affecting
what we think. It’s our autonomy, our agency,
our capacity to think for ourselves, that is
the most important thing about us, and we
are risking that by relying on the advice of
machines
Okay, Google: Lead My Life
Date: Sunday 8 September 2019
Time: 11:00 am - 1:00pm
Location: Hall 26b - GRAND THEATRE
Pak-Hang Wong,
Research Associate, Hamburg University
Robert Sparrow
Professor of Philosophy, Monash University, Melbourne
HOW CAN YOU
RETAIN YOUR AGENCY
AND YOUR HUMANITY
WHEN INTERACTING
WITH VERY POWERFUL
DEVICES THAT MIGHT
WELL BE QUITE
MORALLY DANGEROUS?
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE
WHEN SYSTEMS DO WRONG?
IF THESE
TECHNOLOGIES
AND SYSTEMS
DO WRONGS,
ARE WE ALSO
RESPONSIBLE?
Data-driven technologies and artificial intelligence
systems have raised numerous social, ethical, and political
questions. We asked researcher Pak-Hang Wong, from
the University of Hamburg, to tell us a little bit about his
presentation this year at the IFA+ Summit.
Data-driven technologies and
Artificial intelligence systems have
been steadily integrated into our
everyday life.
It is important to remember
that not only companies and
government agencies are using
these technologies but we are
also using them every day—
either directly or indirectly. If so,
a significant question arises: If
these technologies and systems do
wrongs, are we also responsible?
Intuitively, our answer is probably
‘no’. Yet, data-driven technologies
and AI systems are “sociotechnological
assemblages’, and
we do play an essential role in their
proper functioning. At the Ethics in
Information Technology Research
Group of the University of Hamburg,
my current research focuses on how
information technology affects
our responsibility and whether we
should develop and create machines
that can influence our emotions.
Much of your work has to do with
ethics in technology. How does this
apply to the world of consumer
technical goods in particular?
If, indeed, we are responsible
for the wrongs of data-driven
technologies and artificial
intelligence systems, then we need
to think more carefully about our
relations with these technologies
and systems. In other words, I think
we need to reconsider the role of
consumers in an age of Dataism.
Who should come to your talk?
My talk will be of interest to
people who are interested in the
social, ethical and political roles
of users and consumers of datadriven
technologies and artificial
intelligence systems. I will argue
in my talk that we are indeed
responsible for the wrongs of these
technologies and systems
Cog in the Machine!
Responsibility and Data-Driven
technologies
Date: Sunday 8 September 2019
Time: 11:00 am - 1:00pm
Location: Hall 26b - GRAND
THEATRE
32