Workshop
Applied Data ethics 2025
Tuesday 26 August 15.00
Organizer: Frej Klem Thomsen, National Centre for Ethics
Addressing the ethical challenges raised by the development and use of AI remains one of the most pressing ongoing research and policy problems of our age. These technologies can have enormous impact on our societies, but the extent to which this impact is good or bad is to a large extent a result of the decisions we make when developing and using them.
Solving these ethical challenges is complicated by the combination of the speed at which technology develops, and the need for interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary work, which combines insights from data and computer science with empirical insights from the social sciences and normative insights from analytical ethics.
The proposed session brings together prominent Danish ethics researchers working on applied data ethics and the ethics of AI to present ongoing work and stimulate discussion across disciplinary divides.
Presentation 1: On the complexity of ethical considerations on the use of AI at sentencing (20 min)
Artificial intelligence is becoming widely embedded in social institutions, including the criminal justice system. However, it is generally agreed that using AI to assist judges in meting out sentences gives rise to ethical challenges. This presentation provides an overview of the main ethical concerns, and argues that an overlooked complication is that, according to our best theories of punishment, many offenders are currently being punished in ways that are not ethically justified. This complication fundamentally affects how we ought to address the standard challenges associated with the use of AI in sentencing.
Group discussions 1 (5 min)
Presentation 2: Neutral on the Surface, Normative at the Core: Transparency as a Mode of Domination in Credit Scoring (20 min)
Group discussions 2 (5 min)
Presentation 3: The ethics of AI-generated Child Sexual Abuse Material (20 min)
The advent of widely available high-performing AI for image-generation has also made it easy to create morally challenging material. A central example is AI-generated child sexual abuse material (AI-CSAM). AI-CSAM differs from conventional CSAM in that producing AI-CSAM need not harm victims. This presentation explores alternative explanations for why producing and distributing AI-CSAM is morally bad, and discusses the policy implications including a controversial use-case: Police use of AI-CSAM for the purposes of pursuing and apprehending offenders.
Group discussions 3 (5 min)
Joint Q&A (15 min)
Each of the three sections within the session will begin with the presentation of on-going research within applied data ethics and ethics of AI. In order to stimulate participant interaction and engagement, each section will then ask participants to briefly discuss a question central to the research topic amongst themselves. The session concludes with a joint Q&A with all three presenters.
Professionals working with data ethics and responsible AI; researchers within data and computer science with an interest in ethics. No upper limit to number of participants.
The workshop will present cutting-edge research within applied data ethics, allow a forum for the multidisciplinary exchange of ideas and information, and stimulate improved interdisciplinary networking and collaboration.
Introductory. The session aims at being open to a broad audience. No specific prerequisites required beyond general knowledge of contemporary AI and its applications, and an interest in the ethical challenges these can raise.