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The ethics of AI business practices: a review of 47 AI ethics guidelines

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Abstract

Many AI ethics guidelines have recently been published that center the fairness, accountability, sustainability, and transparency of algorithmic decision-making. Relatively few guidelines center the ethics of the business practices and political economies in which AI systems are situated. We present the findings of a semi-systematic literature review and thematic analysis aimed at determining the extent to which the ethics of AI business practices are considered in a large sample of guidelines. Our review reveals that the political and economic implications of AI business practices are greatly underrepresented in AI ethics guidelines. In its current state, AI ethics guidelines focus disproportionately on issues of algorithmic decision-making, while the fairness, accountability, sustainability, and transparency of the business decision-making contexts in which AI systems are situated remain seriously undermined by competitive and speculative norms, ethics washing, corporate secrecy, and other harmful business practices. We discuss these challenges, and we suggest that the ontological and disciplinary scope of future AI ethics guidelines should be expanded to better contend with them.

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Funding

The authors received funding for this research from University College London-University of Toronto, Fund for Collaborative Projects and Exchange Activities in Artificial Intelligence, Project title: AI Governance: Building ethical frameworks to balance risk and innovation, (PIs: R. Alexander and K. Lyons, UofT and J. Bunn and E. Lomas, UCL): https://ei4ai.wordpress.com/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Blair Attard-Frost

  2. Doblin, a Deloitte Business, Toronto, Canada

    Andrés De los Ríos

  3. Independent Education Design & Technology Consultant, Toronto, Canada

    Deneille R. Walters

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  1. Blair Attard-Frost
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  2. Andrés De los Ríos
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  3. Deneille R. Walters
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Correspondence to Blair Attard-Frost.

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Andrés De los Ríos is an employee of Doblin, a Deloitte business. Andrés’s employer was not involved in the research or writing of this manuscript, did not in any way endorse the research and writing of this manuscript, and provided none of the authors with any financial compensation for our work on this manuscript.

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Attard-Frost, B., De los Ríos, A. & Walters, D.R. The ethics of AI business practices: a review of 47 AI ethics guidelines. AI Ethics 3, 389–406 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-022-00156-6

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