Section U01 – Spring 2016
Abstract
Artificial Intelligence is used in various fields including medical, communications and entertainment. Siri is a personal digital assistant on iPhones that allows users to perform tasks such as make phone calls, set up appointments and send messages all through voice commands. This paper presents an ethical analysis on the use of Siri using the three theories: Aristotelian, Kantian and Utilitarian to determine whether implementation of Siri was ethical or not. Analysis shows that according to Aristotelian and Utilitarian theories, implementation of Siri was ethical while Kantian theory indicates it was not ethical to implement Siri.
1 INTRODUCTION
The science of making computers perform activities that require intelligence when performed by humans is known as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and some of the main factors considered when talking about intelligence include the ability to learn, reason, solve a problem, perceive sight, sound, touch or smell and the ability to understand a language. Simplified forms of AI are used in various fields today such as in gaming and the medical profession. For example in gaming, AIs are used to develop complex game scenarios while in the medical field, AI’s are used for computer aided interpretation of medical images to diagnose breast cancer.
Section two gives some background to AIs including examples of their use in cell phones together with the advantages and disadvantages of AIs. The ethical considerations of using AI in cell phones is discussed next in section three as well as a look at two different views of AIs and the document ends with a conclusion and references used in sections four and five respectively.
2 BACKGROUND
An example of an AI on a cell phone is Siri on iPhone. According to Apple, Siri is an intelligent personal assistant that helps you to complete various tasks including sending messages, making phone calls, making dinner reservations, performing searches etc. all though use of voice commands. All the user needs to do is ask a question or make a request and Siri will perform the task. Other AIs used on phones include Google Now on Android and Cortana on Windows Mobile. On cell phones, these AIs can save time which would have been spent typing commands or messages and also they allow tasks to be done while the user’s hands are occupied, for example, a person can drive and dictate an SMS message at the same time.
An advantage of AIs is that it provides a powerful tool allowing generation of to tough problems as well as development of solutions for a better standard of living. For example in the medical field, AIs can be used to monitor patients who are high risk and AIs can also be used to help with navigation and landing of commercial airplanes. Another advantage is that decisions made by an AI are not based on emotions but on facts and this is an advantage in cases where human emotion leads to negative decisions. AIs also do not need to rest and once they have been trained it is easier to copy the knowledge to another AI which is much less time than it would take to train another human .
A disadvantage with AI however is that it can also be used against people, for example use of AI can allow governments to track the location and habits of individuals within the state and this can be abused and used to cause massive destruction in the wrong hands. There is also sometimes a lack of creativity in responses from AIs due to the lack of flexibility inherent to the human brain which can naturally innovate and create. Any errors or bugs in the AI will also lead to erroneous solutions so full dependence on AIs all the time can be risky. Due to the nature of AIs, a lack of natural reasoning common sense can also lead to faulty decisions that a human would never make .
3 ETHICAL ANALYSIS
The use of AI in cell phones has both benefits and dangers. While the AI can be used for performing helpful actions such as GPS navigation, the danger is that the AI potentially has access to all the information on the mobile device including sensitive information such as banking information, addresses of family and friends, account login details etc and if the AI is compromised through bugs or hacks, this could result in severe losses for the cell phone owner.
Since the origin of the AI research, there have always been questions regarding the ethical use of the technology and this paper considers the use of this technology in the light of the three ethical theories – Aristotelian, Kantian and Utilitarian. However before discussion of the theories it is important to discuss two different attitudes to AIs depending the culture.
3.1 Attitude towards AIs
According to Kaplan , comparing the attitude of Western society such as USA and Europe and Eastern society for example Japan, shows that the west views technology as central to the definition of what humans are and new robots can be upsetting due to a potential convergence of humans and machines, i.e. if the machines get too advanced they may take over. This attitude is illustrated in the movies released by the west such as I Robot, The Terminator and Transcendence where an AI seeks to take control of the world. In contrast, in Japan, technology has a more external role where new robots rarely raise issues and there is separation between technological prosthesis and the human body. An example of this illustrated in their entertainment is animated character AstroBoy (Testuwan Atom) who is a robot boy with a nuclear heart protecting earth from threats and Giant Robo which is an example of large robots controlled by people where the robots are used as armor or a second skin without autonomy.
Thus in the eastern view, robots and AI can be viewed as a tool that can be used to enhance the users abilities and help to achieve their goal whereas in the western world robots and AI are viewed as a potential threat that needs to be contained before it is too late.
Narrowing the scope to focus on personal digital assistants on phones e.g. Siri, an ethical analysis is performed next to determine whether it is ethical to use/implement a personal digital assistant on a cell phone.
Aristotelian Theory
In the Aristotelian theory also known as virtue ethics, actions are categorized as right if they are what a virtuous agent would do in those circumstances . The central question is agent (people) oriented and looks at what habits should be developed to become a well-rounded person and what character traits motivate us in a given situation .
The development of Siri was aimed at improving the quality of life and providing a simple solution for people to perform tasks on their cell phones. Since this is a virtuous goal, implementation of Siri can be deemed an ethical action.
Kantian Theory
In the Kantian theory or deontology, if an action is in accordance with a moral rule/principle then it is right . The central question is act oriented and looks at how to determine what is rational by universalizing an act before performing it. Considering the use of a personal digital assistant in a cell phone, there are some cases where due to physical or other limitations, some people are not able to use this technology. For example someone with a speech impediment would not be able to use Siri effectively and also someone who speaks a language not programmed into Siri also would not be able to use this technology.
Since these categories of people would be left out by implementation of this technology it cannot be universally used and therefore according to the Kantian theory, it was unethical to implement Siri.
Utilitarian Theory
In the Utilitarian theory an action is only right if the best consequences i.e. maximized happiness are promoted . From a utilitarian point of view the central question is act oriented and looks at how to get what is good for most people for the most amount of time . Use of Siri can increase productivity since voice commands can be used instead of typing on the phone, promote safety since you can use Siri e.g. when driving instead of trying to call and can also allow those which physical disabilities to use mobile services e.g. a blind person or disabled person can now make calls.
Since these benefit the majority of cell phone users, from a utilitarian theory point of view, it can be concluded that implementation of Siri was ethical.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Artificial Intelligence is used in various fields including medical and entertainment, for example in the medical field, AIs can be used to help diagnose cancer in medical images and in gaming AIs help to generate complex gaming scenarios. Use of AIs is also prevalent in mobile devices where it is used for GPS navigation for example. Although there are advantages and disadvantages to use of AIs there are different perspectives on AIs in western and eastern society. In western society there is a general fear that eventually AIs will evolve beyond our control and become a threat to society while in eastern society (Japan) evolution of AI is seen as an aid to society whose problems can be overcome.
Siri is a personal digital assistant on iPhones that allows users to perform tasks such as make phone calls, set up appointments and send messages all through voice commands. An ethical analysis on the implementation of Siri was done using the three theories: Aristotelian, Kantian and Utilitarian. Since the motive for development of Siri is virtuous and results in greater good for the majority of users in the future, implementation of Siri is ethical from an Aristotelian and Utilitarian point of view respectively. However since this technology cannot be applied to everyone and no alternative has been provided for those left out, the conclusion is that from a Kantian point of view, implementation of Siri was unethical.
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REFERENCES
