Prof Lim Sun Sun Analyses Whose Job It Is to Inspire Trust in Tech

TECHNOLOGY: To Trust or Not To Trust?

PROF LIM SUN SUN

Fellow, SCS SG100WIT List 2020 Professor of Communication & Technology and Head of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) Earliest Tech Experience: Bulletin board systems Just Binged: Chernobyl Currently Reading: New Laws of Robotics by Frank Pasquale An App You Can’t Live Without: Duolingo Last Googled: How to convert cup measures to grams (for use in a pizza recipe) Pet Topic: Social inequality Favourite Way to Relax: Running, finding hacks to simplify complex recipes

According to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer, global trust in technology fell to an all-time low in 2021. As users grapple with the pandemic, they also struggle with issues like data privacy and misinformation – ills seen to be exacerbated by ever advancing technologies. Can this relationship be salvaged, or is there going to be an ever widening rift between us and tech? SUTD Professor Lim Sun Sun shares her views with The IT Society.

Q: Question, SS: Sun Sun

Q: What accounts for the falling levels of trust users have towards tech?

SS: In all systems – whether human or digital – we want to be assured that they are fair, ethical, transparent and reliable. The way technology has been used in recent years have called these points into question. Take digital rights of children for example. When children interact with devices, companies can track their preferences and use that data to market to them. In this case, data is exploited against children who are too young to understand their rights as individuals – creating ethical issues. There’s also the problem of a lopsided power asymmetry between technology companies and end users. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology become more complex, end users find it challenging to understand what exactly goes into the decisions being made and how to make the right decisions when interacting with them. Yet, there’s little expectation on companies to be transparent. It is this lack of transparency that causes doubts to creep in and undermine the level of trust.

Q: How can we engender greater trust in AI and technology?

SS: We are beginning to see some tech companies taking positive actions to make their terms of use and privacy policies more accessible. While that’s a small step in the right direction, I think regulators should intervene and clearly enunciate the expectation of transparency and ethics companies must be held to. For example, regulators can impose requirements to have inhouse ethicists, who not only know the principles of ethics, but also advise on translating these principles into practice.

This is where professional frameworks like the SCS AI Ethics and Governance Body of Knowledge also play an important role. Tangibly, the clear articulation of ethical guidelines and best practices helps companies improve

processes and guide employees in prioritising these principles. But the symbolic value might be greater.

By capturing these principles in black and white, it signals to the rest of the world what the professional tech community stands for – which goes a long way in inspiring trust from various stakeholders. Regulators will be more open to helping the industry achieve these standards, and consumers will have greater confidence that tech companies are taking ethics seriously. On the global scale, this reassures investors and talent that we have done our due diligence.

Q: Would this be enough to keep everything in check?

SS: In reality, technological systems are so deeply embedded in our everyday lives that it cannot be the purview of a single party. It shouldn’t just be companies, regulators or end users alone. Ideally, it would be a dynamic relationship between the different stakeholders – where each party balances and keeps the others in check.

But beyond professional frameworks and standards of transparency, we also need to think about fixing the system upstream. Technology designers should be educated on ethical principles from the get-go, especially since there is usually no one perfect choice. By schooling technologists in ethical principles, they become better equipped to make judgement calls when deciding between trade-offs. This is also where in-house ethicists can provide advice specific to the situation – whether it’s designing video sharing platforms or surveillance systems. This would help ensure that the code written and systems created are transparent and ethical – in accordance with our values and moral standards.

Q: Moving forward, what’s in the cards for our relationship with technology?

SS: We are pretty much moving into uncharted territory. The roadmap we followed in the early days of tech doesn’t work anymore. So in a way, we are at an inflection point to reconsider the big questions about ethical and societal issues we talked about earlier. How do we make technology more humancentric? Or how can we undo the wrongs done? Can we reinvent aspects that have become entrenched? And so on.

At the same time, even as we adapt to technology, technology is also being reshaped according to our lifestyles and practices. This mutually influential relationship will most likely change the outcomes and consequences of issues we face today. Along the way, we will also get a better sense of how we want technology to work for us, and in our best interest. Essentially, it’s going to be an evolving conversation.

“One of the greatest fears people have towards technology is being displaced by automation. But if there’s one thing the pandemic taught us, it’s that we crave human connection more than we realise. For aspects of our lives like education and healthcare, there’s always going to be a point where society decides that this will be our limit for automation – and that’s enough.”

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM A TRUSTFUL DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM?

BETTER products and services.

Businesses gain access to more accurate and comprehensive data sets – as users feel more comfortable sharing data.

BETTER solutions to complex digital problems.

A mature trust ecosystem involves a large and diverse group of stakeholders – bringing about greater cooperation and ideas.

BETTER interconnectedness.

The element of trust enhances the quality of digital connections – whether person-to-person, person-to-machine.

BETTER digital sustainability.

Digital trust forms the basis of a sustainable digital ecosystem – one that balances wide-ranging concerns (e.g. social, environmental, economical).