This document summarizes a presentation about ethical responsibilities in artificial intelligence and user experience research. It discusses how AI systems are imperfect like humans, different types of AI, and how algorithms only know what they are taught. It emphasizes that UXR for AI needs to provoke discussions around important decision points regarding content curation, training, and management. Ethical considerations include preventing bias, maintaining accuracy, intentional oversight, and representing human values and safety. The goal is developing AI that is ethical, transparent and fair.
Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI. Carol Smith at Strive in Toronto
1. Dynamic UXR: Ethical
Responsibilities and AI
Carol Smith @carologic
Strive, Toronto, June 6, 2019
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
4.0 International License except where
noted otherwise.
7. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
AI
Algorithms
Know ONLY what you teach
Control ONLY what given control of
Aware of nuances and can continue to learn
8. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Taxonomies and Ontologies coming to life
(NOT like humans learn)
Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baby_Boy_Oliver.jpg
11. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Like any good UX research
Understand people and problem deeply
Solve right problem
Solve it right
12. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
UXR for AI - what changes?
Provoke discussions around decision points
Content
and curation
TrainingManagement
14. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
What is Ethics? By Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J.
Meyer. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/what-is-ethics/
Ethics
Based on well-founded standards
of right and wrong.
Prescribe what humans ought to do.
15. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
What is Ethics? By Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J.
Meyer. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/what-is-ethics/
Ethics in terms of…
Rights
Obligations
Benefits to society
Fairness
Specific virtues
16. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Images of trolleys and an anxious hypothetical trolley car lever operator.
Does the Trolley Problem Have a Problem? What if your answer to an absurd hypothetical question had no bearing on
how you behaved in real life? By Daniel Engber. Slate.com. June 18, 2018.
https://slate.com/technology/2018/06/psychologys-trolley-problem-might-have-a-problem.html
Not the Trolley Problem
20. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Decision Points
Content
and curation
TrainingManagement
21. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Goal: Prevent doubt
? ?
? ?
? ?
? ?
22. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Content and curation
Content
and curation
TrainingManagement
23. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Content Source
Exists
Available
Quantity
Quality
Photo by sunlightfoundation
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sunlightfoundation/2385174105
24. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Number Five “Needs Input”
Short Circuit (1986 film)
Ally Sheedy and Number Five (Tim Blaney)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Circuit_(1986_film)
27. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Due to…
Social class
Resource availability
Race, gender, sexuality
Culture, theology, tradition
More…
31. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Training and Accuracy
Content
and curation
TrainingManagement
32. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Annotating Content
Image created by Angela Swindell, Visual Designer, IBM
33. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Identify experts to train system
Trusted by users?
Vetting process
Availability
Maintain quality
35. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
What is priority of accuracy?
What is ROI? 90-99%+
accuracy
60-89%
accuracy
Financial
Ecommerce
Weeks
Months
36. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Management
Content
and curation
TrainingManagement
37. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Be Intentional
Make it your
business to keep
people safe
Image: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) “Odyssee im weltraum” – German
DVD disc cover. From IMBD.
38. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Code of Conduct / Ethics
What do you value?
What lines won’t your
AI cross?
Track progress?
Inspired by “3 guiding principles for ethical AI, from IBM CEO Ginni Rometty”
by Alison DeNisco. January 17, 2017, Tech Republic
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/3-guiding-principles-for-ethical-ai-from-ibm-ceo-ginni-rometty/
39. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Black Mirror Brainstorms
Create Black Mirror
episode about misuse
of your product
Pair with @brownorama's
"abusability testing"
Tweet by @aaronzlewis:
https://twitter.com/aaronzlewis/status/1063544871472914432
40. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Unintended consequences
Becomes a Nazi?
Who can report?
To whom?
Turn off?
Who notified?
Consequences?
Google’s tensor processing units:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/technology/google-artificial-intelligence-chips.html
41. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
“Ensure humans can unplug the machines”
– Grady Booch, Ted Talk
Grady Booch, Scientist, philosopher, IBM’er
https://www.ted.com/talks/grady_booch_don_t_fear_superintelligence
42. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Cycle: Represent Humans at Ethical Decisions Points
Content
and curation
TrainingManagement
44. Dynamic UXR: Ethical Responsibilities and AI / @carologic
Continue the conversation...
LinkedIn: CarolJSmith
Twitter: @Carologic
Slideshare: carologic
Toward ethical, transparent and fair AI/ML: a critical reading list
By Eirini Malliaraki, Feb 19 via tweet from @robmccargow https://medium.com/@eirinimalliaraki/toward-
ethical-transparent-and-fair-ai-ml-a-critical-reading-list-d950e70a70ea