AI & Robotics news

The US White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy has issued what they call a "first of its kind" set of principles that federal agencies have to meet when they draft AI regulations. The public will now have 60 days to comment.

The SIENNA project wishes you happy holidays! In 2020, we will us the data we have collected so far to develop ethical frameworks for Human Genomics, Human Enhancement, AI and Robotics. Our work will also be translated to guidelines for researchers and innovators in industry and academia, protocols and operational guidelines for research ethics committees, recommendations for better legislation, and more!

Today, work package and task leaders from the SIENNA project are in Brussels to present our work to the H2020 project officer and an expert external reviewer. We are looking forward to this opportunity to review what we have done so far, and receiving feedback to improve what we do in the future.

New technology benefits individuals & society. It also challenges our notions of what is ethical. Three H2020 projects have joined forces to improve ethical, human rights & legal frameworks: SHERPA, PANELFIT and SIENNA. We just launched a new video to show how we explore the ethical, legal and human rights questions that information & communication technologies, big data, artificial intelligence and smart information systems raises, for example in relation to data commercialization, cybersecurity and consent.

On November 26, the SIENNA and SHERPA projects are invited to organize an interactive workshop for the European Unions’ different research funding schemes. The workshop is called “Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Foreseeing the Impact and Shaping the Future” and will present findings from both projects. The focus is on the different ethical dimensions and impact of AI on the future of our society, legal- and ethical frameworks.

SIENNA has published a state-of-the art review on artificial intelligence and robotics. If you want to read about it, download it, and find out what else we have done in the last six months and haven't received the e-mail, you are not on our list. So go ahead and sign up to find out what we do! (or read it by clicking the link below).

The SIENNA team working on ethical, legal and human rights issues of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics have conducted a state-of-the-art review of the fields of AI and robotics. The report is now available for download! It offers a thorough analysis of the central concepts, the history, the present and expected technologies and applications of AI and robotics, as well as a socio-economic impact assessment of current and expected technologies used in both fields. The analysis is based on a thorough literature review. We also did interviews with, and received commentaries from, field experts.

Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsay announced that Twitter is banning political advertising on their platform. In the announcement, Dorsey writes that our democratic system might not be ready for machine learning-based optimization of messaging and micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes. Al Jazeera reached out to SIENNA coordinator Philip Brey to get his view on the subject. 

Developments in artificial intelligence and robotics are changing societies and affecting human rights. These technologies are expected to be the greatest money makers of the 21st century. Spain cannot turn its back on the expected financial and societal gains from AI and robotics development. So writes SIENNA's Javier Valls Prieto in a Spanish language blog post in The Conversation. 

The ENERI project is coming to an end. On October 28-29, they will bring together leading ethics experts, researchers, policy makers, representatives from industry, research funding organisations, civil society and other stakeholders to disseminate the concepts and products developed during the three-years term of the project. SIENNA will be represented in a panel with other SwafS RE and RI projects.

Planning for the future and moving the project forward. 24-25 September, we met in Paris to discuss SIENNA impact and sustainability... Have a look below to learn what we talked about! 

Right now, members of the SIENNA consortium are meeting in Paris to decide how we move from collecting and analysing data to developing ethical frameworks and codes. We will also discuss how to ensure that we deliver outputs that stakeholders in human genomics, human enhancement, artificial intelligence and robotics both want and are able to use.

Following #HumanAI? Take the opportunity to find out more about the work beind the hastag! UNESCO is celebrating 25 years of ethical reflection on bioethics and the ethics of science and Technology and have recenly released a new video about the ethics of AI: “Do You Know AI? Or AI Knows you Better? – Thinking Ethics of AI”.

Right now, many governments and regulators struggle to keep up with how new technologies like artificial intelligence is developing. In the latest issue of the EU Research and Innovation Magazine Horizon, Professor Philip Brey, coordinator of the SIENNA project, and Berdnt Stahl, coordinator of the SHERPA project, share their thoughts on how geting AI ethics wrong could ‘annihilate technical progress’.

Policymakers struggle to assess the ethical, legal and human rights impacts of IT systems in research, industry, and at home. At the same time, research needs to be useful for industry, academia, and society to have impact on policy. The PANELFIT, SHERPA and SIENNA projects just published an editorial in Orbit to explain how we collaborate and work together with stakeholders to improve ethical, human rights and legal frameworks for information and communication technologies (ICT), big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

The SIENNA, SHERPA and PANELFIT webinar on May 20 2019 marked the start of an active European collaboration in the ethics, law and human rights of emerging digital technologies. Now you can watch it on YouTube! Learn about the projects' work on artificial intelligence (AI), big data, smart information systems (SIS), and information and communication technology (ICT) in general.

The SIENNA and SHERPA projects are issuing a call for papers for a track on ethics by design at the 4TU Ethics Biannual Conference entitled "The Ethics of Disruptive Technologies" at TU/Eindhoven, The Netherlands, on November 7-8, 2019. Deadline for submission has been extended until July 1!

Advances in AI will have serious and lasting consequences for human autonomy. But does the increasing autonomy of machines necessarily imply a decreasing human autonomy? This week, SIENNA researchers Rowena Rodrigues and Anaïs Rességuier from Trilateral Research write about the underdog of the AI ethical and legal debate on the Human Brain Project's Ethics Dialogues blog.

The SIENNA and SHERPA projects are issuing a call for papers for a track on ethics by design at the 4TU Ethics Biannual Conference entitled "The Ethics of Disruptive Technologies" at TU/Eindhoven, The Netherlands, on November 7-8, 2019. Deadline for submission extended until July 1.

On Monday 20 May, 2019, three Horizon 2020 projects working with the ethical, legal and human rights aspects of different IT-technologies present in a joint webinar. Find out how we will contirbute to responsible AI, big data and data sharing.
 

More and more people are interacting with robots, smart devices, intelligent software, prosthetics and implants. They are used in industry, the education system, health care, our homes, the entertainment industry and military applications. The potential benefits are abundant. However, there are considerable ethical and legal challenges. Today, the SIENNA project sent our first update to stakeholders in AI and robotics. Not on our list? Sign up to find out what we do!

Besides input from experts, the SIENNA project is committed to include public opinion in our work. The results will inform the ethical evaluation and the development of ethics protocols and codes. On 27 April 2019, we ended our data collection. In all, we have completed telephone surveys with over 11,000 people in 11 countries and citizen panels in 5 countries. Now, the work to analyse the data begins.

SIENNA partners have completed their research on legal developments, issues and human rights challenges related to artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. We have covered the legal developments on the international level and in the EU, and completed 12 country studies of the national level, looking at the relevant laws and human rights standards. 

On May 20, 10 AM CET, the SIENNA, PANELFIT and SHERPA projects will explain what we do, where the overlaps are, and how we intend to work together to improve ethical, human rights and legal frameworks for artificial intelligence, big data, smart information systems, and ICT in general.

Today and tomorrow, SIENNA consortium members meet experts and stakeholders in Athens to discuss the project's approach to ethical analysis. Participants will discuss methods and approaches to integrate stakeholder perspectives and public opinion in ethical assessments of new technologies.

You don’t have to look too hard to become acutely aware of the potential dangerous effects of the development and use of algorithms and AI. It is already common knowledge that in the wrong or reckless hands these technologies may sway elections, lead to discrimination, and inhibit freedom of speech or access to information. It is then trite to say that algorithms and AI can pose serious challenges to individuals and the protection of their human rights.

Interested in the ethics and human rights issues in smart information systems? Join the SHERPA, SIENNA. PANELFIT, ORBIT projects and others in the IEEE Smart World Conference forum thisyear! Call for papers closing 26 April 2019.

On 15-16 January, the SIENNA project arranged a foresight workshop on artificial intelligence and robotics. Stakeholders and experts spent one and a half days discussing the future ethical and impacts. A short report is coming, but for anyone interested, a recap of the event is available on Twitter.

Happy holidays from the SIENNA consortium partners in the Netherlands, China, Germany, Brazil, Poland, Greece, United Kingdom, France, Spain and Sweden, and our associate partners in Japan and the US.

In January 2019, SIENNA is organising three foresight workshops to discuss risks, impacts and ethical issues of AI and robotics, human enhancement and genomics with invited stakeholders.

Want to help bring ethical reasoning into the computer science curriculum? Don't miss the embedded EthiCS postdoc opportunity at Harvard University! Apply by January 15.

Are you an expert in artificial intelligence? The SIENNA project is looking for AI experts to interview for our foresight work. What do you believe is on the horizon?

We interact with machines, robots, smart devices, intelligent software, prosthetics & implants. Robots can perform human tasks on their own, and smart devices can operate autonomously. Or connect & work together. Watch our new YouTube video to find out how SIENNA will approach these issues!

On November 8-9, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is hosting the second SIENNA stakeholder workshop. This time covering the legal aspects of genomics, human enhancement, AI & Robotics.

SPEAKER: Roger Brownsword

November 7th
6.30 PM
Warsaw University, Lipowa 4 St. 

Artificial intelligence and robotics will significantly impact society, values and human rights. What will change for the better, and what will change for the worse? Which values could change and who will be most affected? SIENNA's new infographic on AI and robotics tells us what to expect. 

The SIENNA project has partners from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Right now, we are working to make information about the project available in different languages to help partners communicate about our work.
 

Speak Spanish? SIENNA has developed a video about the project for Spanish audiences. Follow the SIENNA Technology, ethics and human rights channel on YouTube for more videos!

SIENNA's Coordinator Philip Brey and Deputy Coordinator Rowena Rodrigues represented the SIENNA project at the European Cluster Event on ‘Research Ethics and Research Integrity Projects’, organised by the European Commission in Brussels on 1 June 2018.

On 3 May 2018, the EU-funded H2020 SHERPA project organised a workshop on “AI and Big Data: Ethical and Human Rights implications” at the Press Club Brussels Europe. At the meeting, SIENNA’s coordinator Philip Brey shared insights from our ongoing research on big data and artificial intelligence.

In December 2017, the quarterly magazine Rio Pesquisa invited two Brazilian SIENNA researchers to talk about their participation in the project. Here, Marcelo de Araujo, Professor of Philosophy of Law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, gives a short English summary.

The Digital Ethics Summit held earlier this month focussed on AI ethics, foresight and ethics by design. The messages coming out of the summit are highly relevant for SIENNA. Here, SIENNA deputy coordinator Rowena Rodrigues gives an overview of the discussions.

How far do we want to go with human enhancement? Does Artificial Intelligence have rights? What is the future of democracy in this digital age? What do we think of helping nature with artificial evolution? These are some of the questions asked at the Brave New World conference, where SIENNA coordinator Philip Brey addressed the ethics of new technology.

It is difficult to predict the consequences of developing and using new technologies. We interact with smart devices and intelligent software on an almost daily basis. Some of us use prosthetics and implants to go about our business and most of us will likely live to see self-driving cars.

Policy makers all over the world struggle to assess the ethical and human rights impact of new research in genetics and genomics, human enhancement, artificial intelligence and robotics. Researchers from four continents have teamed up in the SIENNA project to help improve existing ethical and legal frameworks. The project receives a financial contribution of just under €4 million from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.

On October 19-20 this year, the SIENNA project kicks off with a meeting at the University of Twente. Researchers from Europe, Asia, America and Africa come together to discuss the ethical, legal and human rights aspects of Human Enhancement, Human Genomics, AI & Robotics.

In the upcoming decades, technology will change the world. One of the most important questions in this connection is, just how far do we want to go? Over the next three-and-a-half years, University of Twente researchers, together with counterparts from around the world, will be tackling that very question.