#ethics21 - Ethics, Size and Influence

After lurking casually for a few weeks (my training schedule always conflicted with the live discussions) I was finally able to attend one of the twice weekly zoom calls that Stephen Downes facilitates as part of Ethics, Analytics and the Duty of Care. It was time well-spent.

Since I've been "invisible" for most of the course, I mostly listened. There were numerous insights that sparked and endless trail of considerations.

One main point: our AI will be as ethical as we and society are (Downes). But what if the AI gets ahead of us? What if artificial intelligence moves from mimicking our own ethics (as varied as they are) into creating its own? As the AI evolves (as Sherida pointed out) who claims the discussion? Who manages the management? We may well find ourselves governed by an ethic with didn't choose.

I kept thinking of the article from Wired, The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete, which shows how ethics is influenced by the sheer speed and massive volume of disruption as organizations have begun to rely more on data, that data has taken over directing the course. Apparently, if the data set is large enough "we" feel comfortable simply abandoning the old caution that "correlation is not causality" with the new acceptance that, since it is so massive, "correlation is enough." That makes me uncomfortable, but then so does the power of so much data. AI can simply decide much faster than humans.

Some of the interesting questions raised during our discussion:

Is there such a thing as "society" or does everything get done by individuals and groups? (Mark Wilson)
Are we reaching a point (massive crowd share?) when "society" IS acting as ONE?
How do we (and how should we) feel about Autonomous Armed Quadropeds? (we decided not to refer to these as Robot Dogs)
Are non-players (those who don't care to influence the ethics of it all) excluded?
Are ethics independent from consensus or even concordance?
Does all of this massive shifting feed the desire for control, perhaps by one person or a powerful few?
How will AI handle deviance? Will it tend to zero out deviance?

After Mark raised that last question, Stephen gave a long explorative answer which, convinced me that AI will not, ultimately, zero out deviance - because deviance will arise in response to a loss of influence. I drew this in my notes in response:

The short answer is "no, AI will not zero out deviance." I'm not sure my chart clarifies this, but I find hope in thinking that ethics is always open to our input, small as it may be, and that any tool that can be used can be used by opposing forces.

If those opposing forces were directly equal, as Downes pointed out, we'd achieve stasis. But, stasis is NOT the way of the universe. Change is.

The same tools (even neutral tools) are subject to use by competing agendas.

We look forward to future iterations of this MOOC. As more people join the discussion utilizing the resources that Stephen has so diligently gathered, the program will grow ever more robust, and perhaps, influential in helping create a world of learning built on ethics we can live with and embrace.

-- doug smith

Comments

Leadership and Process Improvement

As a leader, how much attention do you give to improving processes? Do you watch your team install a process and then simply let it flow on and on -- or do you drive a constant focus to improve that process? Too often I've seen leaders spend their efforts trying to fix people , when the center of their problems is usually broken processes and procedures . Any process can be improved until it's no longer necessary. And then you can shut it down. It's work is done. So keep improving those processes. If you're still doing it, you can still improve it. -- Douglas Brent Smith http://frontrangeleadership.com

Perfect Relationships

Is your partner perfect? Are you? I've made enough mistakes in my life and in my relationships to know that the search for perfection is illusive at best and at worst, frustrating. There are no perfect people out there waiting for us, to fall in love with us, to fix us, to bring us what we need, to fulfill our dreams. But that's OK. In fact, that's wonderful. We don't need a perfect person in order to create love. Love creates the perfect person. -- Douglas Brent Smith

The Benefits of Supervisory Training

When was the last time you had any leadership training? How often do the supervisors in your organization get training? If you are like most organizations, it's never enough. Some teams go without any supervisory training at all and expect supervisors and managers to learn as they go, on the job. Unfortunately, while it is memorable to learn from your mistakes, it comes at a high cost. People get tired. People leave. Important accounts go away. Customers complain. And teams struggle without the skills and knowledge it takes to build cohesive teams that are capable of solving problems, improving performance and achieving goals. Admittedly, I can be expected to support training since I'm in the business. Still, take a closer look at your own leadership career and decide for yourself. Are leaders better off with more training and development or with less? Supervisory training can generate benefits that pay off long after the training is over. Here are just a few of the things sup...

Keep Reading

How many books do you read each year? I'm not keeping score And as a full disclosure you should probably know that part of what I do is sell books and learning resources. Even if I didn't, though, I am a big believer in continuing to learn. Read. Experiment. Explore. Talk about it. Try things. Watch videos. Listen to audios. Keep learning. The world is changing so fast, how will you keep up? How do you get the training the need when you're not being offered the training you need? Keep reading. You don't have to read every book cover to cover to find great value in it. I used to think that if I started reading a book that I'd have to finish it. That got me slugging thru some poor material. Now I know that you can glean a lot from a book by scanning it, skimming it, reading what you need and leaving the rest for another time. I do still read books cover to cover (some more than once!) AND I read a lot of books for what is relevant to me right now. Howe...

Dear Home Office

Have you ever worked in the field with the responsibility of reporting to a home office? How did that feel? I've noticed that there are big distinctions between people working in the field, doing the work, selling the product, delivering the goods, facing the customers... and people in the home office who make the rules, collect the cash, drink free company coffee, and call in sick if they need a day off. When you work in the field you don't call in sick because then you don't get paid. At least not what you'd make by doing the work. So when someone from the home office wants to give you feedback, how does that feel? Maybe they have something to offer. Maybe they will give you tips that make a difference. Or maybe you might want to write them a note something like this... "Dear Home Office... Your advice sucks so please keep it to yourself. We know what works and what doesn't. We see our customers' faces. We feel their pain. We need new rules ...

No Hiding The Truth

What happens when someone tries to hide the truth? It pops up, unexpected, full-blown and often unforgiving. There is no hiding the truth. The truth always bubbles to the top. Pushing down what we regard as worth hiding, even when it's clearly true, simply delays the inevitable. The truth comes out, and then whoever attempted to hide it looks doubly suspicious and unreliable. Also, when we try to hide the truth we suddenly limit our possibilities. What can we say? What should we suppress? Where are we headed? Who can know and who cannot know? Did we tell the wrong person already? Maybe we should just keep quiet... Truth we try to hide becomes our tallest wall. It's a weight we carry around wondering when we can let it go. It's a wall that prevents us from seeing the beauty that belongs in all truth, even the truth that troubles us. What secret truth are you carrying around? Isn't it time to let that go? -- Douglas Brent Smith Front Range Leadership: ...

Be Your Best You

I wrote an aphorism that I wanted to share, but have held back because it sounds a little edgy; it sounds a little presumptuous, maybe even conceited. That's not my intention. So in order to share it, let me first share this: it's up to each of us to be our best. Whatever anyone thinks about us, that does not define us. What defines us is what we see in ourselves and how we put that into action. How much clarity we bring to any issue, is completely up to us. How courageous we are under pressure is not up to anyone else but us. The degree of creativity we bring to the world depends on our daily practice and our willingness and discipline to develop that creativity. Our compassion can not be given to us -- we must make it, feel it, show it ourselves. It's true for you. It's true for me. Your best you is up to you. That keeps changing. That keeps growing. It's our lifetime project and adventure: perpetual improvement. Now here's that aphorism that...

Make Progress On That Big Problem

What have you done to fix your biggest problem today? My biggest problem is relocating. I'm not even close to figuring out what that means or where it will be, other than it is highly likely to be back to my home state of New Jersey. For a variety of reasons, it's time to come home. It's easy to get polarized and immobilized though when it comes to making big decisions and solving big problems. So today I'm going to do what Brian Tracy calls "chunking it down". I'll take that monumental problem and find a small piece of it that I can do. I will also practice what I preach when it comes to problems and convert my problem to a goal. Instead of "don't know what to do about moving" as a problem, I will rephrase it as the goal of "Relocate my business and my life to New Jersey by August 2016." As is the case with most of my goals, I hope and plan to achieve it far ahead of the deadline - but the deadline is real. It's energi...

Learn from Each Test

How many tests do you face today? We face all kinds of tests. Tests of our skills. Tests of our will. Tests of our relationships. If you're like me, you don't pass every test. I've messed some things up in the many years of putting things together, creating, coaching, selling, and serving. Sometimes the learning curve is so steep it does not seem like there is an end. It's not always fun. While we may not pass every test, we can always learn from them. We can learn how to be better prepared. We can learn the secrets to the most effective process steps for what we need to do. We can practice. We can learn to repair relationships with honest, gentle, courageous, and compassionate communication. I don't know what tests I'll face today - but I do plan to learn from every one. How about you? -- Douglas Brent Smith

Laugh!

Do you laugh out loud? People have all kinds of laughs. Some are very quiet. One of my best friends can laugh without making any noise at all. I like a laugh that makes a lot of noise. I like the sound of life in its finest ripping thru the air with a boisterous happiness unmatched by any regulations. Laughter says so much. It tells us that things are funny, things are good, things work out, and that even the toughest events, given time, can turn into big laughs. Laughter is good for the creative spirit. When we laugh, we release enough stress to open up space for more creativity, more compassion, more clarity, even more courage. Laughter helps, laughter builds, laughter releases. High performance leaders know how to laugh, and they laugh often. It's fuel for your success. Find something worth laughing at today, and let it rip. You'll feel good about it, I'm sure. -- Doug Smith

High Performance Leadership

Search This Blog