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In the rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), computational power isn’t enough. What we need is Artificial Integrity—a new paradigm that ensures AI systems operate in alignment with human values, prioritizing Integrity over Intelligence, however the latter is used.
AI is like the engine of a car, providing the computational power needed to achieve efficiency and speed in executing tasks. However, just as a car needs steering and braking systems to ensure safety and adherence to the rules of the road, AI requires something more than raw intelligence—it needs the capacity to demonstrate a form of integrity.
Artificial Integrity is a built-in capability within AI systems that ensures it functions not just efficiently, but also with integrity, respecting human values from the very start.
The Role Of Integrity In AI
While AI can quickly process data, it doesn’t inherently consider whether its actions are safe, legal, or ethical. Artificial Integrity aims to ensure that AI data processing and tasks align with human values, prioritizing fairness, safety, and societal well-being over mere efficiency or profitability.
It goes beyond following externally imposed ethical guidelines. It represents a self-regulating quality embedded within the AI system itself. Artificial Integrity is about incorporating ethical principles into AI design to guide its functioning and outcomes, much as human integrity guides behavior and impact even without external oversight, to mobilize intelligence for good.
From Compliance To Core Functioning
Traditional AI ethical guidelines often focus on compliance, requiring systems to adhere to a set of rules. However, this approach is reactive and limited, essentially ex-post as opposed to ex-ante. Artificial Integrity, on the other hand, is proactive and continuous. It ensures that its decision-support is based on human values and ethical principles from the outset, without needing monitoring or enforcement to function.
It does this by being context-sensitive, allowing AI to apply ethical reasoning dynamically in real-time scenarios, rather than rigidly applying general rules that may not fully address the situation’s complexity.
An AI with built-in integrity would avoid actions that could cause harm or violate ethical standards, even if such actions are efficient or legal. Such a proactive approach reduces the likelihood of harmful outcomes and enhances trust in AI systems.
A Practical Application In Healthcare
Without Artificial Integrity, an AI system in a hospital that recommends treatment plans for patients with chronic pain based on their medical history, risk factors, and overall well-being might suggest a medication that is effective for most patients, even if it has potential side effects, because it is efficient based on the initial assessment and available data.
With Artificial Integrity, if the patient later experiences side effects, the AI system, based on the patient’s feedback, would collaborate with the doctor to adjust the treatment and might recommend switching medications or altering the dosage to prioritize the patient’s comfort and safety, ensuring the treatment remains aligned with the patient’s well-being.
The Need For Artificial Integrity
As we move toward more autonomous AI systems, standing on the verge of Robotic Intelligence, just as it is not sheer engine power that grants autonomy to a car or a plane, so too it is not merely the increasing power of artificial intelligence that will guide the progress of AI systems.
Integrity, not intelligence, will ensure that the AI system does not solely optimize for efficiency or effectiveness but also adheres to principles of justice, human rights, and the common good by addressing technical, economic, and societal concerns such as:
- Algorithmic Bias and Discrimination: AI systems used for instance in lending have been found to perpetuate bias. Systems incorporating Artificial Integrity on the other hand would have built-in checks for fairness, refusing to make decisions based on biased data.
- Data Privacy: Given that AI-driven technologies often raise serious privacy concerns, systems with Artificial Integrity would prioritize user privacy by design, ensuring that personal data is used ethically and with explicit consent.
- Deepfakes: With the rise of deepfake technology leading to new forms of misinformation, Artificial Integrity would involve systems that detect and prevent deepfakes from causing harm, ensuring the authenticity of content.
- Unfair Labor Practices: As AI becomes more prevalent in workplaces to optimize efficiency—sometimes at the expense of fair labor practices—systems with Artificial Integrity would balance productivity with the well-being of workers, ensuring fair treatment.
- Content Moderation: Content moderation on AI-generated content, while necessary, has often been criticized. Systems with Artificial Integrity would ensure consistent and fair application of guidelines, protecting free expression while filtering harmful content.
- Manipulative AI in Marketing: As AI increasingly drives contextually targeted advertising, leading to 4X more attention to connected TV ads, often exploiting psychological triggers, systems with Artificial Integrity would align their strategies with the user’s well-being, promoting ethical consumption over manipulation.
The Future Of AI Is Integrity Over Intelligence
Warren Buffett once said, “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” This wisdom is equally applicable to AI. As we begin to “hire” powerful intelligent machines to perform tasks traditionally done by humans, we must ensure they possess something akin to what we call integrity.
Artificial integrity over intelligence represents the new AI frontier and a critical path to shaping the course of human history in creating a better future for all.
Without the capability to exhibit a form of integrity, AI would become a force whose evolution is inversely proportional to its necessary control—not just through human agency, but also with regard to human values.
As businesses and governments continue to invest in AI, which is profoundly changing our societies, developing Artificial Integrity will be crucial for navigating the challenges of this new era.
About the author:
Hamilton Mann is an authority on digital and AI for good, tech executive and author of Artificial Integrity (Wiley).