More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/

research-article

Relational Approaches to Autonomous Systems Ethics

Author:

Luke MoffatAuthors Info & Claims

TAS '23: Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems

Article No.: 2, Pages 1 - 7

https://doi.org/10.1145/3597512.3600201

Published: 11 July 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Autonomous and/or Intelligent Systems (A/IS) are often conceptualised according to a model of autonomy characterised by an absence of interference, also called negative autonomy. What makes a system autonomous, according to this model, is the feature of independently giving a rule to oneself. Feminist critiques of autonomy, including relational critiques, challenge this negative model by drawing attention to the necessity of interdependence, connection, and entanglement. With that in mind, this paper explores how relational theories of autonomy help to speculate other futures for A/IS. It views A/IS not as discrete isolated individuals governed by negative liberty, but as interdependent, entangled constellations.

Considering A/IS otherwise, not as self-prescribing, isolated nodes, but as vast constellations of material, philosophical and political realities, has far reaching consequences for an individualist ethics that holds only single discrete individuals accountable. This paper explores some of the ways in which this might be possible, through concept of relational autonomy, and semiotics.

References

[1]

Adam, Adam, A. (1995). A feminist critique of artificial intelligence. European Journal of Women's Studies, 2(3), 355-377

[2]

Amoore, L. (2019). ‘Doubt and the algorithm: On the partial accounts of machine learning’. Theory, Culture & Society, 36(6), 147-169.

[3]

Barad, K., (2007). Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Duke University Press.

[4]

Birhane, A., 2021. ‘The impossibility of automating ambiguity’. Artificial Life, 27(1), pp.44-61.

[5]

Crawford, K. (2021a). The atlas of AI: Power, politics, and the planetary costs of artificial intelligence. Yale University Press.

[6]

Crawford, K. (May 2021b) “Kate Crawford on “Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence”, Youtube, accessed 08/03/23, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcefG-0InLE&ab_channel=FineArtsMuseumsofSanFrancisco

[7]

Crawford, K. & Joler, V. ‘Anatomy of an AI System: The Amazon Echo As An Anatomical Map of Human Labor, Data and Planetary Resources’ AI Now Institute and Share Lab, (September 7, 2018) https://anatomyof.ai

[8]

Dignum, V., (2022). ‘Relational artificial intelligence’. arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.07446.

[9]

Fitoussi, D., & Tennenholtz, M. (2000). Choosing social laws for multi-agent systems: Minimality and simplicity. Artificial Intelligence, 119(1-2), 61-101.

Digital Library

[10]

De Gyurky, S.M. and Tarbell, M.A., (2013). The Autonomous System: A foundational synthesis of the sciences of the mind. John Wiley & Sons.

[11]

Kant, I., (2007) [1786] The Critique of Pure Reason, London: Palgrave

[12]

Kant, Immanuel, Wood, Allen W, and Schneewind, J. B. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. Rethinking the Western Tradition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.

[13]

Latour, B., 2011. ‘Network theory| networks, societies, spheres: Reflections of an actor-network theorist’. International Journal of Communication, 5, p.15.

[14]

Lewis, J. E., Arista, N., Pechawis, A., & Kite, S. (2018). Making Kin with the Machines. Journal of Design and Science. https://doi.org/10.21428/bfafd97b

[15]

Luján Escalante, M.A., Moffat, L. and Büscher, M., (2022). ‘Ethics through design’. Design Research Society. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.400

[16]

Mackenzie, C. and Stoljar, N. eds., (2000). Relational autonomy: Feminist perspectives on autonomy, agency, and the social self. Oxford University Press.

[17]

Shoham, Y., & Tennenholtz, M. (1995). On social laws for artificial agent societies: Off-line design. Artificial intelligence, 73(1-2), 231-252.

[18]

Winner, L., (1986). ‘Myth information: Romantic politics in the computer revolution’. in Philosophy and Technology II: Information Technology and Computers in Theory and Practice, pp.269-289.

[19]

Winner, L. (1980). ‘Do Artifacts Have Politics?’. Daedalus, [online] 109(1), pp.121–136.

Cited By

Tang YMoffat LGuo WMay-Chahal CDeville JTsourdos A(2024)Encoding Social & Ethical Values in Autonomous Navigation: Philosophies Behind an Interactive Online DemonstrationProceedings of the Second International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems10.1145/3686038.3686044(1-9)Online publication date: 16-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686038.3686044
Benford SAmerotti MSturm BMartinez Avila J(2024)Negotiating Autonomy and Trust when Performing with an AI MusicianProceedings of the Second International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems10.1145/3686038.3686040(1-10)Online publication date: 16-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686038.3686040
Buhr EWelsch JShaukat M(2024)Value preference profiles and ethical compliance quantification: a new approach for ethics by design in technology-assisted dementia careAI & SOCIETY10.1007/s00146-024-01947-7Online publication date: 30-Apr-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-01947-7

Index Terms

Relational Approaches to Autonomous Systems Ethics

Recommendations

Feminist Philosophy and Information Systems

This paper offers a new approach to the philosophical foundations of information systems (IS) through feminist philosophy and, in particular, feminist epistemology. This can be used to expose the universalizing tendency of many information systems and ...
From ethics washing to ethics bashing: a view on tech ethics from within moral philosophy
FAT* '20: Proceedings of the 2020 Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency

The word 'ethics' is under siege in technology policy circles. Weaponized in support of deregulation, self-regulation or handsoff governance, "ethics" is increasingly identified with technology companies' self-regulatory efforts and with shallow ...
Dewey’s Ethics of Moral Principles and Deliberation: Extending IEEE’s Ethics Initiative for Adaptive Instructional Systems
Adaptive Instructional Systems
Abstract
This paper proposes an expansion of the classical ethical foundations as laid out by the IEEE’s Global Initiative on the Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems that are of particular relevance for developers and interested parties concerned ...

Comments

Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Other conferences

TAS '23: Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems

July 2023

426 pages

ISBN:9798400707346

DOI:10.1145/3597512

Copyright © 2023 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 11 July 2023

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Research-article
Research
Refereed limited

Funding Sources

ESPRC

Conference

TAS '23

TAS '23: First International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems

July 11 - 12, 2023

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

3
Total Citations
View Citations
82
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)46
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)6

Reflects downloads up to 03 Jan 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Tang YMoffat LGuo WMay-Chahal CDeville JTsourdos A(2024)Encoding Social & Ethical Values in Autonomous Navigation: Philosophies Behind an Interactive Online DemonstrationProceedings of the Second International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems10.1145/3686038.3686044(1-9)Online publication date: 16-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686038.3686044
Benford SAmerotti MSturm BMartinez Avila J(2024)Negotiating Autonomy and Trust when Performing with an AI MusicianProceedings of the Second International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems10.1145/3686038.3686040(1-10)Online publication date: 16-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686038.3686040
Buhr EWelsch JShaukat M(2024)Value preference profiles and ethical compliance quantification: a new approach for ethics by design in technology-assisted dementia careAI & SOCIETY10.1007/s00146-024-01947-7Online publication date: 30-Apr-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-01947-7

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

HTML Format

View this article in HTML Format.

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

View Table of Contents