Give Me Convenience and Give Her Death: Who Should Decide What Uses of NLP are Appropriate, and on What Basis?

TL;DR

This paper discusses ethical considerations in NLP research, especially regarding dataset use and publication decisions, emphasizing the importance of data statements and ethical review processes.

Contribution

It analyzes the role of ethical assessment and data statements in NLP research publication decisions, using a case study on legal sentencing NLP work.

Findings

Data statements aid ethical assessment of NLP research.

Debates in NLP mirror those in other sciences about dual use and publication ethics.

The paper highlights the need for clearer ethical guidelines in NLP.

Abstract

As part of growing NLP capabilities, coupled with an awareness of the ethical dimensions of research, questions have been raised about whether particular datasets and tasks should be deemed off-limits for NLP research. We examine this question with respect to a paper on automatic legal sentencing from EMNLP 2019 which was a source of some debate, in asking whether the paper should have been allowed to be published, who should have been charged with making such a decision, and on what basis. We focus in particular on the role of data statements in ethically assessing research, but also discuss the topic of dual use, and examine the outcomes of similar debates in other scientific disciplines.