Ethics Surrounding Artificial Intelligence in Marine Biology

acrylic painting fish and coral

Societal Concerns Surrounding AI

Concerns surrounding the widening of the gap between rich and poor in our society have been attributed, at least in part, throught the rise of technology and AI. One study into the effects of automation provides us with the following statistics:

While Aritificial Intelligence increases automationa and in some instances is necessary, we as a society need to make sure that we aren't leaving too many people behind. We need to ensure the wage gap doesn't increase too drastically. One way is through debt cancellations and increased secondary funding to lower college costs ensure that we are not bankrupting people who we need to create and run the equipment.

OK, but how can there be ethical issues in collecting data on sea creatures and ocean temperatures?

Using AI for marine biology is still in its early years. One big concern is with how the marine research is funded. Most marine research is funded through grants from private individuals, governments and large corporations. The terms of the grant and who is supplying the money may influence the research itself and how the data is interpreted as well as what is done with the data. For example, many organizations in the fossil fuel industry try to implement barriers that would make it difficult for researchers to act upon any of the information they find. Oil and gas company organizations have spent millions to place ads on social media platforms to influence the public.

With this being said however, there are still a number of other ethical concerns that arise with the use of Artificial Intelligence. Our research was directed into the following areas;

  1. Team Dynamics and Inclusion of Affected Peoples - The makeup of the team can lead to unconcious bias and skew the data results. Did the researchers keep in mind how their study could impact indigenous people and their rights?
  2. Pollution and Global Warming - Is the help that AI provides worth the cost in resources and energy it takes to make and operate?
  3. Human Centric Thinking - Are we keeping other living beings in mind when we do this research and make recommendations from it or are we just looking out for humans?