The Moral Algorithm

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI), as the transformative technological revolution of our age, attests to mankind’s unrelenting pursuit to under­stand, control and remake the world in the image of its ex­panding aspirations. But it is an endeavour not without its challenges. The apprehended evisceration of core human values and dehumanising of society through the unfet­tered use of AI has invited several regional and global initiatives. The aim of these efforts is to limit the deploy­ment of AI within a larger ethical framework of human rights in a harmonious construct between technological exuberance and compelling moral restraints. More recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his recent inaugural speech at the Global IndiaAI Summit reiterated India’s commitment to responsible and ethical use of AI, as an integral component of India’s AI mission.

History proclaims that at every step on the stairway to progress, man­kind has made choices to define the progress of civilisation as the deep­ening of humanity and the happi­ness of the people. The benefits of AI’s positive contribution to improv­ing global health and educational sys­tems, and combating challenges of cli­mate change, terrorism, cybercrime, pandemics, natural disasters, etc, are transformative in the progressive evolution of human civilisation. Even so, there is an overwhelming consensus amongst stakeholders to tame the excesses of AI. It is rightly argued that the celebration of our technological tri­umphs cannot be a ‘mourning amidst the ruins’ of human­ity. Since all knowledge must be measured in terms of the values it advances, the use of AI demands evaluation in the framework of the prevailing ethical standards of humanity.

AI’s known capacity to encroach upon our inalienable human rights to freedom, privacy of emotions and intimate relationships, individual autonomy, the sacrosanctity of mental processes and individual consciousness, now recognised as fundamental constitutional rights in democ­racies across the world, is viewed as ‘part of the crisis of humanity’. Grave concerns about AI-enabled manipulation of behavioural and electoral processes, the hacking of language to disrupt genuine democratic discourse, the challenge of deepfakes, intended and unintended biases for and against a class of people by exploiting their vulnerabilities, including age, gender, disabilities and ethnicity, and the compounding of prevailing inequalities, including the digital divide, etc, are real. Serious apprehensions have been expressed about AI’s ability ‘to effectively reshape history’. Concerns about the “overgrazing of the internet commons by rapacious technology companies” to maximise profit at the cost of data privacy and transparency abound. Doubts have been expressed whether the AI machines can serve as moral agents in “translating human moral complexity into an algorithmic form” or are capable of making ethical judgments as “full ethical agents” with the human understanding of ethics.

A robust AI governance system cannot be limited to self-regulation and should have enforceable provisions to fix accountability for transgression of the mandated red lines

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That the AI leviathan needs to be regulated across geographical boundaries by internationally enforceable protocols is evident in the recent comments of the principal AI entrepreneurs, includ­ing Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Wozniak. Evidently, a robust AI governance system can­not be limited to self-regulation and should have enforceable provisions to fix accountability for transgression of the mandated red lines. It is, indeed, necessary to navigate the shadows of science if we are to bask in the glory of its illumination.

Hopefully, the recently concluded New Delhi Global IndiaAI Summit will generate ideas for the responsible development and deployment of ethical and inclusive AI. It is for us to reaffirm that civilisation at its peak is about the elevation of man in the fullness of human glory, not in a tragic, even though unintended, denouement of human­ist morality. Our ability to secure a convergence in the pre­scription of scientists and philosophers for a humane world order will be an enduring contribution to this mission. How we deal with this epochal challenge will define the quality of leadership and the hierarchy of moral values in which human dignity as the ultimate constitutional value must remain at the pinnacle.

About The Author

Ashwani Kumar

Ashwani Kumar is a senior advocate and former Union minister for law and justice. Views are personal