Should AI Require Societal Informed Consent?
In many aspects of our lives, people must grant their permission in order to achieve something -- set the terms of a contract or complete a transaction, for example. Should similar informed consent be part of our AI use as well?
"Nobody asks bystanders to sign a consent form before they get hit by a self-driving car. The car just hits them. The driver had to sign consent forms to purchase their car, letting the corporation off the hook for much of what goes wrong. However, the driver -- perhaps the most likely person to be killed by it -- never secures the consent of all the people exposed to that vehicle; these innocent bystanders get no say in whether they agree to be exposed to possible harm.
Informed consent is a core concept holding together the rule-based international order. If you sign a contract, then you are legally bound to its terms. If you undergo a medical procedure, you read the forms and sign your name, absolving medical practitioners from liability. If you get an app from the App Store, you sign a user license agreement that protects the app developer, not you."
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, published by Transforming Data With Intelligence (TDWI).