At the same time, the use of AI raises complex and unique ethical questions, including data protection and security, bias and fairness, transparency and explainability, and accountability and control. How much trust can we place in AI? To what extent does AI influence people's ethical behaviour? These topics and questions pose critical challenges for research.
In their research article ‘Behavioural ethics of Artificial Intelligence’, WiSo Professor Dr Bernd Irlenbusch, Professor Dr Nils Köbis, University of Duisburg Essen, and Professor Rainer Michael, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, examine the interface between AI technology and behavioural ethics. Behavioural ethics is an interdisciplinary field that empirically studies human behaviour in morally significant contexts. It combines elements from psychology, sociology and economics to understand why and how individuals make decisions in ethical dilemmas.
In their article, the three researchers compile approaches that behavioural ethics can use to provide insights into the ethical behaviour of individuals when dealing with AI technology. They focus on four central ethical dimensions: privacy and security, bias and fairness, transparency and explainability, and accountability and control. The researchers emphasise how important it is to understand these ethical dimensions in human interactions with AI. A behavioural ethics approach helps to promote the responsible integration of AI into society.
