On April 6, the Business Integrity Leadership Initiative concluded its spring Let’s Talk About Ethical Artificial Intelligence speaker series with Jerry Jones, executive vice president and chief ethics officer of Live Ramp and special advisor to Club de Madrid. Watch the video of Jones’ presentation above!
Jones discussed the significance of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it plays a critical role in business as well as many other fields such as farming and medicine. Regardless of which field AI is used in, Jones stressed that it should be good for humanity. He quoted from a Harvard professor who drove this point home by saying, “we have to enable students to know enough about technology and the ethical implications, so that when students are running companies” the technology will “serve human purposes” rather than “undermining decent civic life.”
Jones went on to talk about what artificial intelligence will do for us in the future, such as making suggestions to guide our decisions. He asked the audience to question where human judgment should be in these processes and whether people should be in control of the software versus simply allowing the AI to handle certain tasks. Ethical concerns with AI include discriminating against a group of people and making decisions that are not fair. That’s where human judgment is required. Humans know the difference between right and wrong whereas AI just learns from the data that it is given and detects patterns. As the saying goes, garbage in and garbage out. Humans must ensure the machines are given the right data.
Jones also discussed the policy and geo-political implications of AI in the U.S. and the world. He noted that law, regulation and policy lags behind technology. Useful policy guidance and meaningful oversight is important, but it must be relevant.
Jones’ presentation was thought-provoking, and, as promised, he raised many questions for us to ponder as we work to find effective ways to use AI in the world so that it “serves human purposes” and reflects our values as people.
Cindy Moehring is the founder and executive chair of the Business Integrity Leadership Initiative
at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. She recently
retired from Walmart after 20 years, where she served as senior vice president, Global
Chief Ethics Officer, and senior vice president, U.S. Chief Ethics and Compliance
Officer.
