The State of AI Ethics Report (June 2020)

TL;DR

This report provides an overview of recent developments in AI ethics, highlighting societal impacts, risks, and responsibilities associated with AI deployment during a period of rapid technological progress.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive update on the state of AI ethics discourse, research, and practice as of mid-2020, focusing on societal and ethical challenges amid accelerated AI adoption.

Findings

Increased focus on societal impacts of AI during COVID-19

Emerging concerns around disinformation and security risks

Growing emphasis on responsibility and accountability in AI deployment

Abstract

These past few months have been especially challenging, and the deployment of technology in ways hitherto untested at an unrivalled pace has left the internet and technology watchers aghast. Artificial intelligence has become the byword for technological progress and is being used in everything from helping us combat the COVID-19 pandemic to nudging our attention in different directions as we all spend increasingly larger amounts of time online. It has never been more important that we keep a sharp eye out on the development of this field and how it is shaping our society and interactions with each other. With this inaugural edition of the State of AI Ethics we hope to bring forward the most important developments that caught our attention at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute this past quarter. Our goal is to help you navigate this ever-evolving field swiftly and allow you and your organization to make informed decisions. This pulse-check for the state of discourse, research, and development is geared towards researchers and practitioners alike who are making decisions on behalf of their organizations in considering the societal impacts of AI-enabled solutions. We cover a wide set of areas in this report spanning Agency and Responsibility, Security and Risk, Disinformation, Jobs and Labor, the Future of AI Ethics, and more. Our staff has worked tirelessly over the past quarter surfacing signal from the noise so that you are equipped with the right tools and knowledge to confidently tread this complex yet consequential domain.