An AI development ethics briefing for the Learning Systems platform of the German Federal Ministry for Science and Education

PD Dr. Jessica Heesen, head of the research group “Media Ethics and Information Technology” at WeNet partner University of Tübingen is also leading a working group within the Learning Systems platform of the German Federal Ministry for Sciences and Education.

In this role, Dr. Heesen has recently worked on an “ethics briefing” with specific focus on the importance of ethics in the development of Artificial intelligence: AI can make our daily lives easier, improve healthcare and help solve global challenges such as climate change or the corona pandemic, but the extent to which AI-based systems can actually be used depends largely on whether people trust the technology. Ethical values and principles therefore play a central role – at least in Europe – in its development.

The ethics briefing has been designed to serve as a guide on how to develop secure, traceable and non-discriminatory AI applications: the “fairness” and “diversity” values are particularly important for WeNet’s work, and the briefing underlines this direction, giving advice on how to apply them in practice. In this way, WeNet stands for integrated research in the sense of ethics and a value-led AI development.

For more information (German only): https://www.plattform-lernende-systeme.de/aktuelles-newsreader/ki-verantwortungsvoll-entwickeln-und-anwenden-plattform-lernende-systeme-veroeffentlicht-leitfaden.html

An interview in English with Dr. Heesen about the ethics briefing is available at this link: https://www.plattform-lernende-systeme.de/id-3-questions-for-reader/id-3-questions-for-jessica-heesen.html