Safe and Ethical AI (SEA) Platform Network · Linking Artificial Intelligence Principles (LAIP)

Social and Economic Impacts

Principle: Stakeholders should shape an environment where AI provides socio economic opportunities for all. Recommendations: All stakeholders should engage in an ongoing dialogue to determine the strategies needed to seize upon artificial intelligence’s vast socio economic opportunities for all, while mitigating its potential negative impacts. A dialogue could address related issues such as educational reform, universal income, and a review of social services.

Principle: Guiding Principles and Recommendations, Apr 18, 2017

Published by Internet Society, "Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Policy Paper"

Related Principles

(d) Justice, equity, and solidarity

AI should contribute to global justice and equal access to the benefits and advantages that AI, robotics and ‘autonomous’ systems can bring. Discriminatory biases in data sets used to train and run AI systems should be prevented or detected, reported and neutralised at the earliest stage possible. We need a concerted global effort towards equal access to ‘autonomous’ technologies and fair distribution of benefits and equal opportunities across and within societies. This includes the formulating of new models of fair distribution and benefit sharing apt to respond to the economic transformations caused by automation, digitalisation and AI, ensuring accessibility to core AI technologies, and facilitating training in STEM and digital disciplines, particularly with respect to disadvantaged regions and societal groups. Vigilance is required with respect to the downside of the detailed and massive data on individuals that accumulates and that will put pressure on the idea of solidarity, e.g. systems of mutual assistance such as in social insurance and healthcare. These processes may undermine social cohesion and give rise to radical individualism.

Published by European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, European Commission in Ethical principles and democratic prerequisites, Mar 9, 2018

· 1. The Principle of Beneficence: “Do Good”

AI systems should be designed and developed to improve individual and collective wellbeing. AI systems can do so by generating prosperity, value creation and wealth maximization and sustainability. At the same time, beneficent AI systems can contribute to wellbeing by seeking achievement of a fair, inclusive and peaceful society, by helping to increase citizen’s mental autonomy, with equal distribution of economic, social and political opportunity. AI systems can be a force for collective good when deployed towards objectives like: the protection of democratic process and rule of law; the provision of common goods and services at low cost and high quality; data literacy and representativeness; damage mitigation and trust optimization towards users; achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals or sustainability understood more broadly, according to the pillars of economic development, social equity, and environmental protection. In other words, AI can be a tool to bring more good into the world and or to help with the world’s greatest challenges.

Published by The European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence in Draft Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, Dec 18, 2018

7. We engage with the wider societal challenges of AI

While we have control, to a large extent, over the preceding areas, there are numerous emerging challenges that require a much broader discourse across industries, disciplines, borders, and cultural, philosophical, and religious traditions. These include, but are not limited to, questions concerning: Economic impact, such as how industry and society can collaborate to prepare students and workers for an AI economy and how society may need to adapt means of economic redistribution, social safety, and economic development. Social impact, such as the value and meaning of work for people and the potential role of AI software as social companions and caretakers. Normative questions around how AI should confront ethical dilemmas and what applications of AI, specifically with regards to security and safety, should be considered permissible. We look forward to making SAP one of many active voices in these debates by engaging with our AI Ethics Advisory Panel and a wide range of partnerships and initiatives.

Published by SAP in SAP's Guiding Principles for Artificial Intelligence, Sep 18, 2018

· Fairness and non discrimination

28. AI actors should promote social justice and safeguard fairness and non discrimination of any kind in compliance with international law. This implies an inclusive approach to ensuring that the benefits of AI technologies are available and accessible to all, taking into consideration the specific needs of different age groups, cultural systems, different language groups, persons with disabilities, girls and women, and disadvantaged, marginalized and vulnerable people or people in vulnerable situations. Member States should work to promote inclusive access for all, including local communities, to AI systems with locally relevant content and services, and with respect for multilingualism and cultural diversity. Member States should work to tackle digital divides and ensure inclusive access to and participation in the development of AI. At the national level, Member States should promote equity between rural and urban areas, and among all persons regardless of race, colour, descent, gender, age, language, religion, political opinion, national origin, ethnic origin, social origin, economic or social condition of birth, or disability and any other grounds, in terms of access to and participation in the AI system life cycle. At the international level, the most technologically advanced countries have a responsibility of solidarity with the least advanced to ensure that the benefits of AI technologies are shared such that access to and participation in the AI system life cycle for the latter contributes to a fairer world order with regard to information, communication, culture, education, research and socio economic and political stability. 29. AI actors should make all reasonable efforts to minimize and avoid reinforcing or perpetuating discriminatory or biased applications and outcomes throughout the life cycle of the AI system to ensure fairness of such systems. Effective remedy should be available against discrimination and biased algorithmic determination. 30. Furthermore, digital and knowledge divides within and between countries need to be addressed throughout an AI system life cycle, including in terms of access and quality of access to technology and data, in accordance with relevant national, regional and international legal frameworks, as well as in terms of connectivity, knowledge and skills and meaningful participation of the affected communities, such that every person is treated equitably.

Published by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in The Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Nov 24, 2021

· Sustainability

31. The development of sustainable societies relies on the achievement of a complex set of objectives on a continuum of human, social, cultural, economic and environmental dimensions. The advent of AI technologies can either benefit sustainability objectives or hinder their realization, depending on how they are applied across countries with varying levels of development. The continuous assessment of the human, social, cultural, economic and environmental impact of AI technologies should therefore be carried out with full cognizance of the implications of AI technologies for sustainability as a set of constantly evolving goals across a range of dimensions, such as currently identified in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

Published by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in The Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Nov 24, 2021