Business Ethics

Artificial intelligence (AI) is seen by many as the next technological advancement meant to revolutionize society, in the same vein as the printing press, the internal combustion engine, or the internet.

While some limited AI tools have been in use for years (e.g., search engines, manufacturing robots, voice recognition software), a far more complex AI technology has recently made enormous strides: deep learning generative AI. These widely-available programs most commonly take the form of chatbots, such as ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Bing Chat, or content generators like DALL-E and Midjourney.

Using natural language processing (NLP), chatbots are now capable of understanding complicated requests and responding in an equally sophisticated manner. These systems are simply language models, meaning they are limited to generating text or images in response to user queries and are not capable of independent actions or thoughts. However, even a brief exploration of ChatGPT or DALL-E’s capabilities will reveal just how complex and adaptive these systems truly are.

Generative AI is already being leveraged by businesses and organizations to automate tasks, collect information, and improve the customer experience. Chatbots can provide customer support, conduct market research, and even offer real-time translation services. They can also be used to generate more creative content for marketing and product development purposes, such as social media posts, original images and videos, and technical documentation.

However, the increased capabilities of generative AI pose various ethical dilemmas for the organizations who choose to employ them.

Identify a potential ethical problem from the invention of Artificial Intelligence applications.

Discuss its impact on the world of business and provide a solution.