"Explanations for decisions made by artificial intelligence must be ethically considered. Otherwise they could be used to manipulate users or create acceptance for a technology that is ethically or legally unacceptable," says junior professor Dr Suzana Alpsancar from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Paderborn. Starting in July, she and media scientist Professor Dr Tobias Matzner will lead the new subproject B06 "Ethics and Normativity of Explainable AI", which is part of the Transregio research area B "Social Practice".
During the two-year period, the project team will systematically classify the different purposes, needs and requirements of explanations and ethically reflect on the technological development within TRR 318. They will systematically distinguish the ethical requirements from those of the users, as these must not necessarily be in line with each other. The ethical framework developed for explaining artificial intelligence will then be applied to concrete projects within TRR 318. On the one hand, the researchers aim to explain how current design decisions reconcile ethical considerations and user requirements. On the other hand, they plan to formulate concrete design recommendations for further development based on these findings. The overall aim of the project is to create a greater sensitivity to social contexts in the research of artificial intelligence. To this end, the project members will highlight aspects that cannot be solved technically, but need to be addressed at a social or legal level.
Dr Suzana Alpsancar has been a junior professor for applied ethics at Paderborn University since December 2021. As an associate member of Transregio, she is familiar with the research projects. Dr. Tobias Matzner holds the Chair for Cultures of Digitality at Paderborn University and is already leading the Transregio project B03 " Exploring users, roles, and explanations in real-world contexts".
- More information at the project subpage B06 "Ethics and Normativity of Explainable Artificial Intelligence"
