Against Ethical AI
The article argues that the concept of "ethical AI" is an oxymoron, contending that AI systems fundamentally cannot be ethical because they lack consciousness, intentionality, and moral agency. The author suggests that efforts to develop ethical AI are misguided and may serve to greenwash or legitimize harmful technologies.
Background
- "Ethical AI" refers to efforts by tech companies (Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta) to create guidelines, principles, or review boards meant to ensure AI systems are fair, accountable, transparent, and unbiased — often in response to public backlash over issues like bias, surveillance, or job displacement.
- Critics argue that "ethical AI" is a form of **ethics washing** — a public-relations exercise that lets companies appear responsible while continuing to develop and deploy harmful technologies without meaningful structural change.
- The article pushes back against the idea that AI can be made ethical through tweaks or principles, suggesting instead that the technology itself (especially large-scale predictive models and automation) is fundamentally incompatible with justice, and that calls for "ethical AI" distract from deeper questions about power, profit, and whose interests the technology serves.