Ethics and Artificial Intelligence – Speaker Info

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) increasingly affect our lives, from job selection where computer
programs are used to automatically sift through applications, to our ability to get loans,
credit cards, visas, and the premiums we pay for insurance policies. While such technology
can make decisions more efficiently, are more consistent and less prone to subjective human
decision-making, there are many challenges to be addressed around the fairness,
transparency, as well as the legality of what are often seen as ‘black boxes’.
This is a fascinating seminar which looks at the philosophical and social arguments for and
against the use of A.I., using the complex case study of the military and deployment of UAVs
(drones), and examples taken from everyday life, as well as the views of a cutting-edge
industry practitioner who uses data science and machine learning for commercial
applications, will offer some insights on how to ensure machine learning models do not
introduce bias or discrimination.
Dr. Enrico Gerding
Enrico is an Associate Professor in the Agents, Interaction and Complexity (AIC) research
group in the Department of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of
Southampton. He is also a board member of Southampton’s Centre for Machine Intelligence
(CMI). He has been an academic at Southampton since 2007 and has been involved in
Artificial Intelligence since 1994 when he did his undergraduate on this topic in Amsterdam,
followed by his PhD which was completed in 2004. The focus of his research is on
autonomous decision making, specifically in the area of multi-agent systems. In past 5 years,
he has been working on a project called “Meaningful Consent in the Digital Economy”
around data privacy. Consumers are constantly asked to consent to the use of their data,
expecting non-experts to read and understand the terms and conditions, which are often
unclear and do not offer a realistic choice. The project looks at using AI to empower
consumers and help them make complex privacy-related decisions.
https://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/people/eg
Professor Christian Enemark
Christian Enemark is Professor of International Relations in the Faculty of Social Sciences,
University of Southampton, and Principal Investigator for the DRONETHICS project (ERC
project ID 771082). Christian has published numerous books and articles addressing issues of
global health politics, international security, and the ethics of armed conflict. These
publications include a book on drones entitled Armed Drones and the Ethics of War: Military
Virtue in a Post-Heroic Age.
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/politics/about/staff/ce1e16.page
Contact details:
Dr. Enrico Gerding: eg@ecs.soton.ac.uk
Professor Christian Enemark: C.Enemark@soton.ac.uk
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