Business Ethics & The Implications of AI

While ethics in business may seem black and white, in actuality, business ethics are always adapting to keep up with changes in society, technology, and industry-specific matters.  With Artificial Intelligence (AI) rapidly integrating into business operations and our daily lives, it is more important than ever to consider the ethical impact of AI.

ATLAS Partner, Michael Abbate, of our Lifestyle Planning Group (ATLAS LPG), provided his valuable insight for the creation of this article, to help your business understand some of the crossover between AI and ethics.

Considerations When Implementing AI

From a financial perspective, AI is an investment.  The technology is still new enough that – depending on the level of AI you hope to implement – the service may come at a premium.  And yet other forms of AI, such as ChatGPT, are free to everyone.  Therefore, when considering AI implementation, be sure to also ‘run the numbers’ from a productivity standpoint.  It is a good idea to evaluate the way AI will be used in your organization, and the type of AI that would best support your team.  This, along with an evaluation of your current tech stack, could help you identify whether proprietary (and costly) AI programming is just a want, or a need.

When looking to use a third-party AI service for your company, conduct research to confirm whether the third-party service has the appropriate IT protocols in place for the successful implementation of AI into your organization.  In addition, remember that Artificial Intelligence is exactly that – a form of intelligence that has been created artificially, and that intelligence may- or may not- align with your brand.  Therefore, taking the time to find an AI developer that best aligns with your values, as much as your strategy, may be crucial for positive results.

Another important factor to consider is that AI is programmed by humans, for humans.  But as the adage goes, nobody’s perfect.  As AI continues to ‘learn,’ human error may inadvertently make its way into the programming.  This makes it important for humans to oversee AI operations, so corrections can be made quickly, if needed.  However, in some instances, AI is programmed to troubleshoot errors on its own.  While there may be positives and negatives to both options, these factors are yet another reason to ‘do your homework’ when finding a third-party AI service. Having a robust IT team, well versed in AI integration, can ensure your company is supported if AI falls short, allowing your business operations to flow while IT assesses AI quality controls.

As technology advances, AI will continue to learn emotional intelligence, however in its current state, AI is limited.  The process of instilling empathy and other emotions into AI programming may be lengthy; and depending on how you intend to use AI, this could hinder the success of AI in your business.

For example, if you implement an AI chat bot for customer service efforts, your consumer may miss the emotional intelligence that a human customer service representative can provide. You may save money in the short term, but risk the loss of customers, and ultimately revenue, in the long run.

While this may be of mild concern, it is best not to rule out AI opportunities for your business!  Instead, assess which of the AI capabilities will provide a value-add to both your business and consumer, while taking into consideration, both the AI capabilities as they are now, and how those functions may improve as technology advances.

One way of doing this would be to implement AI into your business on a ‘trial’ basis.  With this mindset, you can head into your ‘AI era’ with fewer expectations.  You may work with a less-robust level of AI than is ultimately needed, but this could help you determine how frequently AI is used in your organization, the impacts AI will have on productivity, the amount of human support that will be needed by the AI you plan to utilize, and whether the programming will truly optimize your business operations.

Are There Ethical Implications of Using AI?

Bearing in mind what we’ve noted above, brings us back to ethics and AI.

If your business has a documented ethics policy, and you have chosen to implement AI, it may be time to review said policy for the additional language necessary to address AI ethics.  If your business has not yet written an ethics policy, you may want to consider putting pen to paper to communicate your company’s expectations with regards to ethics in AI and other issues, ensuring your organization can continue to deliver the highest value to your market.

As previously noted, some AI can be programmed to troubleshoot problems without human support. Depending on the way in which your company plans to use AI, it may pose an ethical risk for the program to have a ‘mind of its own,’ so to speak.  Mitigate risk of ethical misconduct by seeking a third-party AI service that employs both a legal team, and an IT department for heightened security. These teams will, essentially, work like general managers making sure their employees – that is, the AI programming – conduct business ethically on a day-to-day basis.

In general, it is important to remember these computer ethics skills when using a third-party AI service for business operations:

• Do not use AI while logged into a secure environment, such as a remote server, if your company has one
• When using a free AI program, or a less-robust AI system, only perform these functions through a web browser; do not install a program onto your PC
• If the AI program has access to other software platforms utilized by your company, be sure to limit the amount of time during which the AI program can access information, and limit the amount of information the AI program is able to ‘see’

When it comes to ethics, confidentiality is always near the top of the list.  Make sure third-party AI systems are not able to capture private company information from your network, as well as private consumer data from your system. While larger companies may have the resources to mitigate these risks by partnering with one AI company to handle multiple aspect of integration;  smaller businesses may not have the finances necessary for that level of investment and will benefit from being cognizant of where in their system private data is kept, and whether their AI program has access.

To Sum It Up

AI has the potential to be an excellent addition to any company, supplementing your business operations, while your team focuses on tasks that only humans can successfully do.  This can improve productivity and performance. But should be implemented with careful consideration of the service provider, their values, and how this may affect your company’s ethics policy.  And if you find that AI technology may not be the solution to your business needs right now, it could still be a great financial investment to plan for down the line.

As ATLAS Partner, Michael Abbate, said, “If you’re waiting to see how your competitors use AI, to help you understand what AI means for your business, you will have a harder time moving forward and generating more success than your competitors.”  In true entrepreneurial fashion, Michael encourages business owners to be forward thinking.  Be a visionary.  Do your own research, make your own path, and find the AI that best suits the needs of your business, aligns with your ethics policy, and provides the best support for your consumers, no matter your industry.