Goltz, Nachshon (Sean)

In the midst of the fourth industrial revolution, big data is weighed in gold, placing enormous power in the hands of data scientists – the modern AI alchemists. But great power comes with greater responsibility. This book seeks to shape, in a practical, diverse, and inclusive way, the ethical compass of those entrusted with big data. Being practical, this book provides seven real-world case studies dealing with big data abuse. These cases span a range of topics from the statistical manipulation of research in the Cornell food lab through the Facebook user data abuse done by Cambridge Analytica to the abuse of farm animals by AI in a chapter co-authored by renowned philosophers Peter Singer and Yip Fai Tse. Diverse and inclusive, given the global nature of this revolution, this book provides case-by-case commentary on the cases by scholars representing non-Western ethical approaches (Buddhist, Jewish, Indigenous, and African) as well as Western approaches (consequentialism, deontology, and virtue). We hope this book will be a lighthouse for those debating ethical dilemmas in this challenging and ever-evolving field.

This paper will first describe some of the unique features of blockchain technology and ‘smart contracts’ used in NFTs. Next, we discuss four ways in which the economic and social potential of NFTs can be derailed, leading to ‘digital enclosures’ whereby large institutional copyright holders reap most of these benefits for themselves through illegitimate – and sometimes unlawful – rent-seeking, as well as the very real potential for fraudulent activities by malicious actors. Finally, we offer some initial suggestions on how to regulate NFTs and blockchain technology to prevent these illegitimate forms of rent-seeking and the ‘digital enclosures’ to which they give rise. Future governance in this area should be directed toward protecting individual artists, content creators, and small businesses over large institutional copyright holders, as do many current laws and regulations.

In this paper, we shed light on the question of whether it is morally permissible to enslave artificially intelligent entities by looking at up to date research from the social sciences – as well as the ancient lessons from Jewish law. The first part of the article looks at general ethical questions surrounding the ethics of AI and slavery by looking at contemporary social science research and the moral status of ‘Sex Bots’ – AI entities that are built for the purpose of satisfying human sexual desires. The second part presents a Jewish perspective on the obligation to protect artificial intelligent entities from abuse and raises the issue of the use of such entities in the context of sex therapy. This is followed by a review of slavery and in particular, female slavery in Jewish law and ethics. In the conclusions, we argue that both perspectives provide justification for the ‘Tragedy of the Master’ – that in enslaving AI we risk doing great harm to ourselves. This has significant and negative consequences for us – as individuals, in our relationships, and as a society that strives to value the dignity, autonomy, and moral worth of all sentient beings.