Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence
The Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence ("Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence") is a research institute for the development of ethical standards in the research and use of Artificial Intelligence . The institute was initiated and fully financed by Facebook Inc .; As part of a cooperation agreement, it has been a regular institute of the Technical University of Munich since October 2019 . Facebook Inc. appointed Christoph Lütge , professor at the endowed professorship for business ethics at the TU, as director of the institute.
History and structure
According to his own statements, Christoph Lütge got to know some high-ranking Facebook employees through his work in international ethics committees. Together they found that there was a lack of research on ethical questions in artificial intelligence and the fairness of algorithms and machine learning. In January 2019 it was announced that Facebook would finance the "Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence" to be created by Lütge at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) with 7.5 million dollars. Facebook boss Sheryl Sandberg announced this at the Munich digital conference DLD. Facebook Inc. finances the institute from company sales ($ 52 billion in 2018). The opening of the institute was planned for October 2019.
Lütge announced that he also wanted to involve civil society in the research work, especially with conferences and workshops. The aim of the institute is to unite the technical disciplines with the humanities and social sciences in such a way that AI-based technologies become trustworthy and socially acceptable.
cooperation
The contractual agreement between the state-owned TUM and the US company was kept secret. Nevertheless, the “Facebook Unrestricted Gift Letter” to the Technical University of Munich, from which the terms of the cooperation emerge, got into the public eye. For the $ 7.5 million grant, the company reserves the right to discontinue further funding at any time after paying an initial margin of $ 1.5 million for no reason. This was interpreted by politicians and the media as a threat to research results that are not acceptable to Facebook.
It also expressly states that the institute must be run by founding director Christoph Lütge. Lütge holds an endowed chair for business ethics at TUM, which was donated by the former Siemens board member Peter Löscher . Should the public Bavarian Technical University of Munich want to use another institute director, it requires the prior written approval of Facebook Inc.
criticism
Christian Kreiß, professor at Aalen University, criticized that this funding would make the TU an extended marketing arm of Facebook. Alexander Filipović , professor of media ethics at the Munich University of Philosophy, said that although he was worried, he trusted the TU.
Institute director Lütge sees the financing of the institute through Facebook as "a win-win situation". It was clear to him that Facebook had a bad image, especially because it passed on millions of user data to Cambridge Analytica ; But ethics is also about answering uncomfortable questions. Lütge claimed that the collaboration between computer scientists and philosophers was "unique in the world". There are no Facebook requirements or even a reporting requirement.
Chris Köver wrote at Netzpolitik.org that after Sheryl Sandberg had announced the partnership, many media "from Tagesschau to Süddeutsche Zeitung" immediately reported about the company's commitment to ethics in AI. Köver wrote: "In this way, Facebook bought a comparatively cheap image campaign in the German media landscape for 6.6 million euros".
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Mirjam Hauck: Facebook and the Technical University of Munich: "We are independent". Accessed March 31, 2020 .
- ^ Andrian Kreye: Facebook at the university - the wrong patron. Accessed March 31, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d A telling secret contract with Facebook. Accessed March 31, 2020 .
- ↑ Joachim Kroll: Research: Technical University of Munich founds Institute for Ethics in AI. Accessed March 31, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Chris Köver: Why Facebook is funding an institute for ethics in Munich. In: netzpolitik.org. January 21, 2019, accessed on March 31, 2020 (German).