An Ethical Expertise Perspective on Studying AI’s Impacts

Abstract

A burgeoning stream of IS research has been exploring the diverse ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. By examining this literature, we find that IS researchers approach AI ethics from multiple perspectives, from focusing on bias detection in or through AI systems, to shedding light on the ‘dark side’ and social injustices of AI-related practices in organizations, to exploring the social and occupational dynamics triggered by the organizational introduction of AI systems purposefully designed as ‘ethical’. This promising and growing body of work largely neglects, however, the deeper ethical questions and puzzling moral dilemmas that emerge in processes of designing, deploying, and using advanced AI systems. IS research shies away from directly addressing the core issues and subject matter of AI ethics. After contrasting existing perspectives, we introduce an ethical expertise approach – one that treats ethical dilemmas with the same rigor as the biases, injustices, and social dynamics emphasized in extant literature. Using this approach, we urge IS researchers to empirically investigate and theorize how individuals grapple with novel ethical dilemmas that emerge in specific contexts where AI is developed and used, as well as the practical skills they employ to navigate these challenges. This perspective is critical for IS researchers to sustain impactful contributions to understanding the diverse and often unintended ethical impacts of increasingly powerful AI systems.

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