Two Professors take a significant step in our knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Prof. Andrew McStay and Prof. Vian Bakir (School of History, Law and Social Sciences) have successfully applied to the Responsible AI UK Impact Accelerator for their project, ‘Automated Empathy – Globalising International Standards (AEGIS): Japan and Ethically Aligned Regions’. Other team members are Dr Phoebe Li (University of Sussex), Dr Alex Laffer (University of Winchester) and Ben Bland (independent).
Partnering with Japan’s National Institute of Informatics and standards developer Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and engaging the Information Commissioner's Office (UK), this project augments the Emotional AI Lab's UK-Japan social science to create soft governance of autonomous systems that interact with human emotions and/or emulate empathy. This includes a regional (Japan/ethically aligned regions) IEEE Recommended Practice for these technologies, and advancement of a global parental standard. They achieve this through in-person workshops of regional experts, deriving learning for the UK & EU from a region immersed in social robotics and steeped in ethical questions about systems that process intimate data.
Professor Andrew McStay commented: 'It's quickly becoming clear that people and AI-based technologies will be enmeshed in ways once thought impossible. Indeed, if empathy is in part about gauging emotions, where a person is at, and responding appropriately, then modern AI is already showing empathetic capabilities. There are many ethical questions to be asked, including how to translate answers to the design of emerging AI systems. To solve this, we will collaborate to develop global and S.E. Asian-focused standards for responsible AI that purports to emulate human empathy.'
For further details regarding the grant, see: https://www.rai.ac.uk/impact-accelerator
For further information, contact Prof. Andrew McStay: mcstay@bangor.ac.uk.