Ethical implications of Artificial intelligence: cases from Italy

Abstract

Despite public belief, Artificial intelligence technologies are frequently embedded in software and applications. On one hand, they facilitate aspects of the daily life, for example, by using instant translation tools it is possible to communicate with everyone regardless of language barriers, or it is easier to search for a movie on Netflix because they are rearranged based on individual taste through a recommender system. On the other hand, the rise of AI tools is increasing discrimination and hence inequality and people are not even aware of such problems. For instance, fitting candidates for a job position are not called for an interview, because their resume has not been selected by a biased software that is favouring a specific race or gender.

After discussing the main findings and ethical implications on the usage of AI presented by the today literature, the aim of the paper is to analyse whether Italian companies developing such technologies are aware of the negative impacts that these technologies have on the final users and what are the steps they take to prevent them.