Guiding the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

This blog post is adapted from our June 10 response to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) request for information (RFI) 2019-08818: Developing a Federal AI Standards Engagement Plan. This RFI was released in response to an Executive Order directing NIST to create a plan for the development of a set of standards for the acceptable use of AI technologies. Given the wide adoption of AI technologies and the lag in commensurate laws and regulations, this post aims to help NIST by highlighting the current state, plans, challenges, and opportunities in ethics and AI. In 2016 the European Union (EU) created the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that would expand protections around EU citizens' personal data beginning in 2018. Meanwhile, China has extensively integrated AI technologies into their government and social structure via the China Social Credit System.