FSN Seminar – March 9 at 1 pm EST

We should trust Artificial Intelligent (AI) to make moral decisions under certain preconditions – A foresight view on Artificial Intelligent Systems of tomorrow

Abstract

The presentation will begin by providing an introduction to some contemporary technological issues around Artificial Intelligence (AI).  This will be followed by an examination of the following thesis about the future of AI in the context that “we should trust AI to make moral decisions under certain preconditions”.

A brief review of selected literature related to the thesis statement will follow along with a discussion about some present unresolved ethical and moral issues.  We will then discuss the ‘promise’ of artificial intelligence in serving society.  This will be coupled to the observation that we are living in an emerging technological environment that is going fully digital and in so doing is creating vast quantities of data that can be further exploited.  We will then show how the philosophy of information impacts our understanding through the exploitation of AI.

Next, we will look at the human moral cognition process that helps us understand the differences between right and wrong and good and bad.  We will then see if we can apply the human concept of “good” to AI systems.  This will be undertaken by considering the philosophy of the Canadian Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian Bernard Lonergan and his Generalized Empirical Method (GEM), as an ideal moral practice that could be used in developing moral AI systems.

Finally, we will show through further analysis, as per the use of GEM, a way of doing self-evaluation.  The seminar will end with conclusions and recommendations for future work.

Biography Richard Viger, CD, BSc., MA

After completing high school Richard spent one year studying electronics at the Collège Lionel-Groulx.  He then joined the Canadian Armed Forces in the late seventies, where he was trained as an Air Force Communications and Radar Systems Technician.  He then spent a number of years applying his skills in the NavCom lab at Canadian Forces Base Comox, in British Columbia.

Richard was selected to participate in the Canadian Forces University Training Program.  He completed his Bachelor of Computer Science (BSc.) from the University of Victoria.  Upon graduation Richard received his military commission in the Air Force wing of the Canadian Forces as a Communication Electronics Engineering Officer.  He was then posted to Ottawa to manage various computer systems and act as a communications and security engineer in a number of Defence Headquarters’ offices until his retirement in 2001 after 22 years of service in DND.

Two months after 9/11, Richard joined the Canadian Communications Security Establishment (CSE), where he held a number of positions in various business areas of the Establishment.  He spent his last few years in the Research Coordination Office within the Research Directorate.

In 2020, Richard graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) in Public Ethics, with a focus on Science & Technology from Saint Paul University in Ottawa. Then in the fall of 2020, Richard retired from CSE after 41+ years of service in the Government of Canada.  Today, Richard continues his research in the fields of AI and ethics.