The ethics and politics of artificial intelligence

Philosophers often argue that knowledge is neutral, but the use we make of it can bring good or bad consequences. Seeing technology as knowledge, Thomas Ferretti considers ethical and political issues raised by the ongoing revolution in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). We often think that acquiring more knowledge is always good. If I acquire the knowledge of calculus, I can now do some things that I could not do before. Yet, what philosophers call a "consequentialist" perspective might propose instead that knowledge itself is neutral: we must know how I am going to use my knowledge in practice before judging whether it has good or bad consequences.