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Re-imagining Current AI Ethics Policy Debates: A View from the Ethics of Technology

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Artificial Intelligence Research (SACAIR 2021)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1551))

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Abstract

A lot has been written recently on the ineffectiveness of the current plethora of AI ethics regulations available in the public and private sectors. I approach this concern from a novel angle by critically reflecting from within the ethics of technology on current AI ethics discourse, which is mostly still deeply Cartesian, especially when it comes to policy-making. I start with an analysis of current AI ethics vocabulary and point to its value-laden and Cartesian nature. In a first step towards moving away from Cartesianism I then briefly take the reader on a journey through pertinent aspects of trans-human discourse as illustrated by Clark’s proposal of human minds as ‘extended’. I then consider Verbeek and Kudina’s work in post-phenomenological mediation theory to enrich Clark’s suggestions by acknowledging a more active role for technology in co-shaping humans and their socio-cultural worlds. As a result, via a novel notion of ‘extended moral agency’, I define a notion of ‘moral affordance’ to inform a new non-Cartesian tradition for AI ethics discourse and policy-making. Finally, I briefly comment on implications of my argument for the future of AI ethics regulation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem

  2. Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CAIR), Hatfield, South Africa

    Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem

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  1. Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem
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Correspondence to Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Edgar Jembere

  2. University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Aurona J. Gerber

  3. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Serestina Viriri

  4. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Anban Pillay

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Ruttkamp-Bloem, E. (2022). Re-imagining Current AI Ethics Policy Debates: A View from the Ethics of Technology. In: Jembere, E., Gerber, A.J., Viriri, S., Pillay, A. (eds) Artificial Intelligence Research. SACAIR 2021. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1551. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95070-5_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95070-5_21

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