The nuanced debate over AI ethics

"You won't see many people with my background talking about ethics," said Beena Ammanath, executive director of the Global Deloitte AI Institute and head of Trustworthy AI and Ethical Tech at the global consulting company. A computer scientist who worked as a database and SQL developer and held data science- and AI-related technology roles at Bank of America, GE and Hewlett Packard before joining Deloitte in 2019, Ammanath wasn't always gung-ho to talk AI ethics. Then she decided to write a book about it. "There has arguably never been a more exciting time in AI," she wrote in her book "Trustworthy AI." "Alongside the arrival of so much promise and potential, however, the attention placed on AI ethics has been relatively slight." Protocol spoke with Ammanath about why ethical AI practices should be part of every employee's training, the limitations of providing internal guidance inside a sprawling consultancy and why she finally gave in and joined the AI ethics conversation.