The quest for actionable AI ethics

Abstract

In the face of the fact that AI ethics guidelines currently, on the whole, seem to have no significant impact on AI practices, the quest of AI ethics to ensure trustworthy AI is in danger of becoming nothing more than a nice ideal. Serious work is to be done to ensure AI ethics guidelines are actionable. To this end, in this paper, I argue that AI ethics should be approached 1) in a multi-disciplinary manner focused on concrete research in the discipline of the ethics of AI and 2) as a dynamic system on the basis of virtue ethics in order to work towards enabling all AI actors to take responsibility for their own actions and to hold others accountable for theirs. In conclusion, the paper emphasises the importance of understanding AI ethics as playing out on a continuum of interconnected interests across academia, civil society, public policy-making and the private sector, and a novel notion of ‘AI ethics capital’ is put on the table as outcome of actionable AI ethics and essential ingredient for sustainable trustworthy AI.