It was about this time last year that I pitched the team at DATAVERSITY the idea of this monthly column on data ethics. There’s certainly been no shortage of interesting questions to cover and I’ve enjoyed writing about both the practical and more philosophical aspects of this topic. As we wrap up this year and […]
Ask a Data Ethicist: What Happens to Your Data When a Company Goes Bankrupt?
The recent meltdown of 23andme and what might become of their DNA database got me thinking about this question: What happens to your data when a company goes bankrupt? To say the past year has been a tough one for 23andme is an understatement. This latest turn of events, which involves infighting between management and […]
Ask a Data Ethicist: Does Using Generative AI Devalue Professional Work?
A couple of weeks ago, a management consultant I met made an off-the-cuff remark that caught my attention. I was asking them about the ways in which generative AI might impact their business and they shared that clients might not want to pay $50,000 for a slide deck anymore if they disclosed that generative AI […]
Ask a Data Ethicist: What Should Be the Limits of Biometric Data Collection in the Workplace?
There’s a movement underway to capture an increasing amount of data about employees – from facial recognition or fingerprint systems used for tracking time and attendance, to systems that monitor your every keystroke. All of these invasive data collection technologies raise this question: What should be the limits of biometric data collection in the workplace? […]
Ask a Data Ethicist: How Can We Set Realistic Expectations About AI?
One of the most important questions about using AI responsibly has very little to do with data, models, or anything technical. It has to do with the power of a captivating story about magical thinking. There’s a set of beliefs driven by over-exuberant AI hype – that AI is going to revolutionize everything! How can […]
Ask a Data Ethicist: When Is It OK to Use “Fake” Data?
It’s easier than ever to use AI-generated images or text and to create synthetic data for use in research. A recent high-profile story got me thinking more about this question: When is it OK to use “fake” data? Before we dive into this, I’m putting “fake” in quotes because I’m taking a wide perspective on […]
Ask a Data Ethicist: What Is Data Sovereignty?
Recently, my DATAVERSITY colleague Mark Horseman shared that he’d been getting a lot more questions about Indigenous data sovereignty. We both agreed it would make a great topic for this month’s column. What is Indigenous data sovereignty, why does it matter, and how can we learn more about it? To answer these questions, it helps […]
Ask a Data Ethicist: What Happens When Language Becomes Data?
At a recent presentation for a local post-secondary institution, I fielded a number of questions related to the use of language, primarily English language texts, as training data for generative AI. There were questions around cultural impacts and related ethical concerns. These queries were more nuanced than the usual ones I get around copyright or […]
Ask a Data Ethicist: How Can We Address the Ethics of Reusing Data?
Reusing data is a fundamental part of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Yet, when we collect data for one purpose, and use it for other purposes, we could be crossing both legal and ethical boundaries. How can we address the ethics of reusing data? Understand Your Data Before we address the issue of reuse, we […]
Ask a Data Ethicist: What Data Is OK to Use to Prompt ChatGPT?
Millions of people are using ChatGPT on a regular basis to assist them in both personal and professional capacities. This month’s question centers on the data used to prompt ChatGPT. Our reader, who shared that they are an ESL speaker, would like to know if it’s ethical to have ChatGPT create summaries of information (specifically, […]