The high expectations of AI have triggered worldwide interest and concern, generating 400 policy documents on responsible AI. Intense discussions over the ethical issues lay a helpful foundation, preparing researchers, managers, policy makers, and educators for constructive discussions that will lead to clear recommendations for building the reliable, safe, and trustworthy systems6 that will be commercial success. This Viewpoint focuses on four themes that lead to 15 recommendations for moving forward. The four themes combine AI thinking with human-centered User Experience Design (UXD). Ethical discussions are a vital foundation, but raising the edifice of responsible AI requires design decisions to guide software engineering teams, business managers, industry leaders, and government policymakers.

Throughout her life, Eileen Lach has been a leader. Growing up in northeast Minneapolis, she knew at a young age she wanted to move to New York City and travel the world. Lach accomplished that and more, carving out a position on Wall Street early in her career and later serving as the first general counsel and chief compliance officer for The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She is considered a thought leader, especially in the area of ethics and artificial intelligence (AI). During a conversation with Lach last summer, it was hard not to be wowed by her achievements and admire her dedication to philanthropic causes.

One might easily say about the notion of the ethics of disruptive technology–much like Mark Twain's misattributed missive about the weather–that "everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything." But IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, is doing something. Freshly minted from their Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, is the 290-page first edition of Ethically Aligned Design: A Vision for Prioritizing Human Well-Being with Autonomous and Intelligent Systems. If that title sounds like a mouthful, it ought to. The issues that need to be addressed, to prevent the summoning of the demon that Elon Musk warns of, are complex.

Rapid advances in AI have spawned a number of recent initiatives that aim to convince engineers, programmers, and others to prioritize ethical considerations in their work--but almost all of them have originated in rich Western countries. An effort from the huge engineering association IEEE is now trying to change that, with its own AI ethics proposal that it says will be a global, multilingual collaboration. In the past two years alone, a raft of new efforts to explore ethics in AI have launched, including the Elon Musk–backed nonprofit OpenAI, the corporate alliance Partnership on AI, Carnegie Mellon University's AI ethics research center, and the Ethics & Society research unit at Google's AI subsidiary DeepMind. But most of these projects are based in the U.S. or U.K., are led by a small group of researchers, and issue updates only in English, which could limit their ability to foster AI that benefits all of humanity, not just those in developed countries. Since 2016, a group called the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems has been writing a document called "Ethically Aligned Design" that recommends societal and policy guidelines for technologies such as chatbots and home robots. This week, the group unveiled an updated version of the document that integrates feedback from people in East Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and other regions.

This article originally appeared in the March 2017 issue of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine. We thank RAM and the authors for giving us permission to reproduce it here. Algorithms with learning abilities collect personal data that are then used without users' consent and even without their knowledge; autonomous weapons are under discussion in the United Nations; robots stimulating emotions are deployed with vulnerable people; research projects are funded to develop humanoid robots; and artificial intelligence-based systems are used to evaluate people. One can consider these examples of AI and autonomous systems (AS) as great achievements or claim that they are endangering human freedom and dignity. We need to make sure that these technologies are aligned to humans in terms of our moral values and ethical principles to fully benefit from the potential of them.

The purpose of this Initiative is to ensure every technologist is educated, trained, and empowered to prioritize ethical considerations in the design and development of autonomous and intelligent systems. Ethically Aligned Design: A Vision for Prioritizing Human Wellbeing with Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems represents the collective input of over one hundred global thought leaders from academia, science, government and corporate sectors in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, ethics, philosophy, and policy. Details on how to submit comments and feedback regarding Version 1 of the Ethically Aligned Design (EAD) can be found via the Submission Guidelines. We're creating a Vision for Prioritizing Human Wellbeing with Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems and we need your help. Learn more about how to join the conversation and Make #OURAIVISION Your Own.

This article originally appeared in the March 2017 issue of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine. We thank RAM and the authors for giving us permission to reproduce it here. Algorithms with learning abilities collect personal data that are then used without users' consent and even without their knowledge; autonomous weapons are under discussion in the United Nations; robots stimulating emotions are deployed with vulnerable people; research projects are funded to develop humanoid robots; and artificial intelligence-based systems are used to evaluate people. One can consider these examples of AI and autonomous systems (AS) as great achievements or claim that they are endangering human freedom and dignity. We need to make sure that these technologies are aligned to humans in terms of our moral values and ethical principles to fully benefit from the potential of them.

PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, today announced the "OurAIVision" Campaign in conjunction with the recently introduced paper, Ethically Aligned Design: A Vision for Prioritizing Human Wellbeing with Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems (AI/AS). Launched by The IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems, Ethically Aligned Design is a first version of a global document encouraging technologists to prioritize ethical considerations in the creation of autonomous and intelligent technologies. The first leg of the "OurAIVision" Campaign Tour was held in Mumbai, India, where representatives from The IEEE Global Initiative received direct feedback about Ethically Aligned Design from AI experts, engineers, and technologists. The tour's next stop in Tokyo, Japan in March will collect further input to Version 2 of Ethically Aligned Design. Interested parties can support the global campaign activities using Twitter hashtag #OurAIVision or learn more by visiting the Campaign website.

The recently published "Ethically Aligned Design," a 136-page report by IEEE, boldly goes where no report has gone before, with more than 225 mentions of ethical issues surrounding the development of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems. That's in contrast to other reports, like the "One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100)," published last year by Stanford. "AI100" stated, "The difference between an arithmetic calculator and a human brain is not one of kind, but of scale, speed, degree of autonomy, and generality." That frightening statement makes clear that the "AI100" authors did not appreciate what the IEEE report's authors so clearly understand: People are not machines, and machines are not people. The authors of "Ethically Aligned Design" assume that there are "users" and there are "systems," and that excellence in design is when users are well served by their systems.

That's the opinion of Stephen Hawking along with other leaders in the AI field, noted in a 2014 article in The Independent. Much of the media portrays a negative perception of AI, publishing articles and airing news segments about the technology with images of The Terminator. However, not many members of the media are asking what can be done to reap the benefits of the technology and avoid the risks. Those questions require a deeper look, which is why the IEEE Standards Association formed the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems, for which I serve as vice chair. In the past year, the initiative brought together more than 100 experts to collaborate on the report "Ethically Aligned Design."