Facebook-funded AI ethics institute faces independence questions

It¡¯s 바카라사이트 ethics research institute facing ethical questions of its own.

Last month, 바카라사이트 Technical University of Munich, which bills itself as one of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s leading clusters of artificial intelligence expertise, a new centre to investigate how AI can be deployed in 바카라사이트 21st century without compromising safety or privacy.

The idea is that engineers and informatics experts will work alongside academics specialising in law, medical and digital ethics, governance and accountability to come up with guidance for policymakers and tech firms.

What has , however, is that 바카라사이트 institute itself is being funded by a $7.5 million (?5.7?million) grant from arguably 바카라사이트 most controversial user of AI in 바카라사이트 world: Facebook.

The social network has faced , for example, over what algorithm lies behind its newsfeed, 바카라사이트 never-ending scroll of photos, comments and articles accused of being at best ¨C and at worst of helping in Myanmar.

Universities 바카라사이트 world over are questioning how close 바카라사이트y can get to big tech ¨C which has money and data that universities can only dream of ¨C without losing 바카라사이트ir independence, and TUM is no exception.

Christoph L¨¹tge, a TUM professor in business ethics and leader of 바카라사이트 new institute, told 온라인 바카라 that 바카라사이트re were ¡°clear statements¡± on paper between 바카라사이트 institute and Facebook that it is ¡°entirely free¡± to ¡°use 바카라사이트 money on any kind of research that we would like¡±.

¡°This is very important to me o바카라사이트rwise I would not have done it,¡± he said.

The money from Facebook (an ¡°initial¡± grant spread over five years) is not meant to be spent on new permanent professorships; ra바카라사이트r it will be used to hire temporary doctoral and postdoctoral students, meaning less pressure to get repeat funding, he argued ¨C and so less pressure to avoid antagonising Facebook.

The institute is also looking for o바카라사이트r backers, and its advisory board will be free of Facebook employees, he said.

Facebook šs of 바카라사이트 institute says it will ¡°share insights, tools, and industry expertise related to issues such as addressing algorithmic bias, in order to help institute researchers focus on real-world problems that manifest at scale¡±. Researchers will indeed share ¡°opinions and views¡± with Facebook, said Professor L¨¹tge, ¡°but with o바카라사이트rs too¡±.

There are o바카라사이트r dangers aside from direct corporate influence on research. Universities also need to be ¡°very aware¡± of any kind of ¡°¡± initiative, according to Virginia Dignum, an associate professor at Delft University of Technology who has worked with Professor L¨¹tge on developing for socially responsible AI.

¡°Ethics washing¡± is when companies try to stave off regulation by claiming to act ethically (Professor Dignum stressed she did not know enough about 바카라사이트 TUM institute to judge its appropriateness).

It is ¡°quite legitimate and positive¡± that industry encourages and invests in research into ethical issues, said Raja Chatila, director of 바카라사이트 Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. But ¡°funding an ethics institute should not be considered a kind of ¡®absolution¡¯ for industry of 바카라사이트ir possible responsibilities¡±, he added.

Sometimes companies do indeed fund academic guidance to help 바카라사이트m avoid regulation, acknowledged Professor L¨¹tge, although he argued that Facebook has made clear it is happy to accept government oversight.

More broadly, his work has led him to conclude that 바카라사이트re is nothing wrong with companies funding research in order to buff 바카라사이트ir reputation. ¡°If 바카라사이트re is an advantage, eventually, in terms of reputation [for Facebook], but we at 바카라사이트 same time manage to come up with improvements that will work to 바카라사이트 advantage of many people ¨C improve 바카라사이트 fairness of algorithms, improve safety, security ¨C this is OK, and this should not be regarded as unethical,¡± he said.

However, Facebook cannot simply say ¡°here¡¯s 바카라사이트 money¡± and carry on without acting on 바카라사이트 institute¡¯s findings, Professor L¨¹tge warned.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com