In this workshop, we will present the ethical matrix, a collaborative method to discuss the ethical implications of an AI project which can be used to make decisions that are relevant for users' wellbeing.
Through this technique, we can bring to the discussion the views of all the different groups that may be influenced by the AI project and highlight ethical problems and implications that were not visible by the group responsible for developing the project.
During the workshop, we will first describe the method and then put into practice to analyze a specific case of AI IRL (online "proctoring").
The participants will be introduced to a practical method (the ethical matrix) to analyze the ethical implications of an AI Project which does not need complex theoretical philosophical discussions or procedures and is designed to be inclusive and help the developers to figure out how the project may impact different groups, and whether basic rights of such groups may be affected.
This method is designed to be very easy to deploy, and when possible, it is very easy to include representatives from different collectives, as they are constructed with basic ethical intuitions in mind. If representatives of some collectives can't be present to participate, this method also allows informed developers to practice empathy and analyze the problem from the perspective of such collectives.
The ethical matrix can be fine-tuned to analyze all sort of different problems, and give new perspectives, so it will enable and empower participants to analyze their own projects with a practical ethical perspective.
We will also like to hear from the participants whether they think they will use the methods described in the workshop, and hear about what they consider might be their strengths and weakness.
We will invite the participants to analyze the cases in small groups. Depending on the number of participants we will have more or fewer groups, but as the discussion will be intra-groups, there will be no problem if we have a whole crowd wanting to discuss the ethical matrix or a visual map of values.
If we only have 3 participants, we'll have just one group, which is also fine. Not as rich as having several groups, but the dynamics will be the same.
Professor of Philosophy of Science in the UAB, researching on the ethical impact of ICTs. He is a member of the Barcelona Bioinformatics Regulation, Security, and Ethics working group,
Professor of Design Theory at ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona. Researches the socio-ethical impacts of technology. Author of "The Goods of Design (Rowman&Littlefield, 2021).