Harvard Chan School Explores Ethical Frameworks for AI Development and Use
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is actively examining the field of AI ethics, which focuses on the moral principles and guidelines that should govern the development and application of artificial intelligence. This area of study addresses fundamental values such as well-being, autonomy, fairness, privacy, and accountability in AI systems. The discussions emphasize that AI ethics is not merely about whether a system functions as specified, but critically about its purposes and consequences. For instance, an AI system designed to prioritize patients for outreach must consider whether it should favor those most likely to respond, those with the greatest unmet need, or those most likely to benefit from intervention, acknowledging the different aims and potential impacts. Ethical reasoning is intended to translate into concrete design choices, dictating what an AI system may do, the information it requires, how individuals can challenge its decisions, and the evidence needed to justify its discontinua...
