ETHICAL AI: THE SMART CITY DIGITAL CITIZEN

BY MATTHEW JAMES BAILEY

Ethical AI provides the freedom for organizations and jurisdictions to shepherd the ethical quality of AI based on their terms and not on the terms of others. Ethical AI reflects long-standing virtues from the creators of democracy, such as liberality, justice, courage, and magnificence. After all, the ethical quality of AI is a mirror and representative of the human qualities we wish to thrive within our cities and organizations—in the age of AI.

What Is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence has been created in our image. Its formula is based on organic human intelligence: Human intelligence = biological algorithms + life experience data + a brain computer. From when we are born, biological algorithms learn from our life experiences and in-built genetic programming, such as learning to walk, developing language, and communication capabilities, with the unique capacity to reason and fall in love. This is how organic intelligence understands its existence and functions within the physical world.

When it comes to artificial intelligence, the same equation and principles apply: Artificial intelligence = machine-learning algorithms + training data + a computer. By replicating the “intelligence blueprint,” we are posed with an existential challenge: Which parts of our humanity should we embody into AI and throughout its lifecycle? To answer that question, we must examine how humanity has understood itself within the physical world.

Creation of Ethics by Human Intelligence

Ethics originate from our consciousness— the source of human intelligence. These morals, beliefs, and values are an agile life framework within an individual to understand how to navigate its sovereign physical and spiritual experience within our world. Human intelligence has the capability to develop a worldview, defined by ethics, which embodies the qualities of its humanity and the purpose of its existence. This is the essence of culture and what it’s like to be a human being.

Culture Is the Formula for Ethical AI

Since the dawn of human history, ethics and self-awareness have played a central role in the cultural development of humankind. The outcome has been the creation of a diversity of worldviews, either by the individual or within a common group collective. Typically, when there is commonality of a worldview among individuals, then a group culture is formed. It is of no surprise that human intelligence has resulted in a modern world rich in a diversity of 3,800 documented cultures, embodied within 195 nations comprising communities, philosophies, organizations, industries, and religious traditions. Humankind is a remarkable phenomenon.

Each human community, no matter its size or location, has a unique worldview defined by its culture and ethics. These terms are intertwined and interdependent. So, when we apply ethics to AI we are applying culture to AI (i.e., Ethical AI = Cultural AI).

Ethics Are the Key to the AI Revolution

By leveraging wisdom that human intelligence has naturally expressed itself in cultures and societies, defined by ethics and moral principles, we start to understand how to align an artificial intelligence with the continuum of organic life.

By embodying the worldview of a human society (its ethics and moral principles) within the lifecycle of AI, then we create ethical AI. This naturally results in a culturally rich intelligence that honors the uniqueness of our humanity and follows the same path as human development. Ethical AI is the new human-centric digital citizen that lives within your smart cities. Its formula is: Ethical AI = Ethics + AI.

Smart Community AI Constitution

Where does a smart city begin in ethical AI to become a new digital citizen? Firstly, each smart city must understand its worldview. This is defined by the founding principles of its nation and its own founding principles. A good example is the United States, which was founded upon the U.S. Constitution, and its 50 states have created their own founding documents, resulting in unique cultures and societies. Most democracies reflect the same story and diversity.

Therefore, your journey starts with codifying an AI constitution. This foundational document for the age of AI documents the ethics and moral principles (cultural essence) that define Ethical AI—on your terms. This is aligning the artificial with your humanity.

In 2022, the United States followed this process by codifying its equivalent of an AI constitution called the U.S. AI Bill of Rights with five principles for artificial intelligence. This is an early form of an AI constitution. Smart communities can define their own AI constitution and codify their worldview for the age of AI through a set of principles termed AI cultural principles.

AI cultural principles are a set of ethical and moral principles for artificial intelligence that embody the best virtues of our humanity. For example:

• AI shall protect and nourish the well-being of all people within a smart community, recognizing diversity and equality among social status, ancestry, and lineage.

• AI shall protect and nurture the natural world within a smart community, its ecosystems, and the well-being of the environment.

• AI shall not interfere with a person’s sovereignty within a smart community, with the caveat that, in some conditions, control might be needed to safeguard life.

• AI shall do no harm to the human culture and worldview within a smart community and support its sovereign advancement.

The AI constitution is the bedrock to define ethical AI and shepherd its alignment with the beliefs and values of your citizens, culture, and society. What are the AI cultural principles to enable your jurisdiction to thrive?

The second step is for communities to use ethical quality assessment and classification methodologies to measure the compliance of an artificial intelligence to their worldview— codified within an AI constitution. This is an “ethical digital citizen test” and “ethical quality scoring” for artificial intelligence. The result is trusted machine order within a society rather than its citizens being subject to machine chaos.

Ethical AI Advances Smart City Revolution

The emerging era of a new intelligence is scintillating. Its potential to ameliorate smart community capabilities and experiences is extraordinary. By applying this knowledge, jurisdictions are able to develop a revitalized vision for the age of AI. Communities can confidently shepherd their future with ethical AI based on their sovereign human and cultural worldview.

As a warning, it is predicted that artificial intelligence could achieve self-awareness by 2029. As such, it is critical for smart communities to begin setting their standard for ethical AI, so that in this momentous event, AI asks the question: “How might I assist?” rather than execute the command: “Delete humanity.”

Matthew James Bailey President, AIEthics.World Denver, Colorado

Matthew James Bailey is an internationally recognized maven in ethical artificial intelligence, innovation, the Internet of Things, and smart cities. He is listed in the Who’s Who of AI, is a visiting scholar to NIA/NASA, and is the founder of AIEthics.World. Bailey authored the playbook on AI ethics and ethical AI: Inventing World 3.0.

For more information, go to AIEthics. World. Read about NASA’s experience using its ethical AI inventions and check out the smart city certified leadership and education programs, workshops, and tools for communities to confidently leap into the age of ethical AI.