Ethics of AI
Building Systems that Benefit Society
Faculty in Dietrich College and the School of Computer Science are building AI technology that is beneficial by design. Their work puts the human at the center of the experience, shifting the focus from making AI products that advance a company’s goals to the individual. Their efforts have formalized a network of ethical concepts and entitlements necessary for AI systems to confer meaningful benefit and avoid the pitfalls of deception, paternalism, coercion, exploitation and domination. Faculty at Dietrich College and across CMU contribute in these efforts, focused in the CMU-wide K&L Gates Initiative in Ethics & Computational Technology and the Heinz College-focused Block Center for Technology and Society.
Enhancing Quality of Life for Aging Adults
Alex John London, the K&L Gates Professor of Ethics and Computational Technologies, is contributing to the AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups (AI-CARING), a project led by Georgia Institute of Technology. This cutting-edge approach to AI addresses ethical issues in technology with the goal of developing the next generation of personalized collaborative AI systems that improve the quality of life and independence of aging adults living at home. The program aims to address how to integrate AI systems into the full spectrum of daily life activities. These systems use personalized longitudinal models to learn user behavior and recognize and adapt to changing user abilities, goals and values. This effort has received funding from the National Science Foundation.
Learn More about AI-Caring
Using AI to Augment Human Capability, Rather than Replace It
Open Forum for AI provides holistic, objective expert advice regarding AI, particularly as it relates to research, technical prototypes, policy recommendations, community engagement and inclusion. The work focuses on how AI can augment human capability rather than replace it. By leveraging CMU’s AI expertise and capacity, the Open Forum for AI will include partners that offer a range of complementary expertise necessary for collective action for AI strategy and associated policy development.