‘So, what do you wanna do with your philosophy degree?’ He asked, turning to me with great interest. I bet he wanted to hear something like a professor or lawyer. But I had something even better!
‘I want to become an AI ethicist.’ I say with a lump in my throat. There was a brief silence. I shut one eye and swore under my breath as I waited for it to come.
‘PPfftt!’ There it is.
‘What’s funny?’ I asked,
‘What’s not? What the f*ck even is that?’
I receive these kinds of reactions from people the majority of the time. I don’t blame them; it’s just how society has conditioned us to respond to people who want to do anything outside the generic medical or engineering field. Aside from the philosophy degree just having a bad reputation among people, not many others think it’s cool or lucrative when you say you want to do something like ‘AI ethics’. In their ears, that probably sounds just as good as saying you want to struggle for the rest of your life.
I would really love to dig into the idea of people respecting you more when you have a cool degree and why we need to pursue something interesting enough for people to think you won’t end up at some minimum-wage job, living paycheck to paycheck in this terrible economy. But that’s not why I’m here.
Today, I want to talk about the job of an AI ethicist.
I think it’s pretty safe to say we’re on a fast track with AI and an automated future. It’s predicted that we will reach the point of AI singularity by 2045 (that’s in our lifetime!), which is a pretty big deal, but with all these wonders of AI comes the risk that we both know and don’t know about.
There’s the fear of unemployment. What are we going to do when AI is taking all the jobs and supposedly 'making our lives easier’? What does that mean for society? What would people who can’t upskill do?
There’s the problem of deepfakes. Can we continue making movies with the faces and voices of dead actors? How can we tell if something is falsified or real? Just look at those shocking images of Taylor Swift!
There’s also the issue of privacy. How will we keep our data safe? And even if our data is kept safe, what if they get hacked?
There has been a new trend of people from diverse backgrounds going into the tech field (when I say diverse backgrounds, I mean in terms of degrees and not necessarily racial and gender diversity. That is still a work in progress). Which is great because we need everyone on board!
An AI ethicist is someone who helps navigate the ethical implications of AI, from its development and deployment to the use of artificial intelligence in society at large. An AI ethicist can work in different fields like academia, non-profit organizations, governmental positions, research institutions, etc using their expertise to examine the ethical considerations regarding the development and use of AI.
How would having an AI ethicist help?
Good question! Since the role of an AI ethicist is relatively new, there isn’t a lot of information on what they do or how to get into it. But here are a few things you would do if you were an AI ethicist:
- Research: This seems like an obvious one. Learning and researching is a never-ending job in the role of an AI ethicist. There is always something new and groundbreaking to discover, try, and invest in. Just as there is also something to change and repair. Researching will give you a lot of insight into biases in AI, help you understand the paradox of transparency and privacy, how you can help overcome that, and so much more!
- Advocacy: This one is probably one of the most important things you would do. Speaking up about ethical principles and values is a crucial aspect of AI ethics. Pushing for diversity and inclusion in AI research, as well as educating the general public on AI issues, benefits, and addressing concerns.
- Consultation: By doing consultations, you’re helping organizations by providing guidelines and advice on the best ethical practices for their designs.
- Education and Outreach: Since there aren’t a lot of people who know about AI ethics, it would be paramount to organize things like workshops, speak in seminars, or write publications dedicated to creating awareness.
To become an AI ethicist, you don’t necessarily need to become the next Alan Turing (father of computer science and artificial intelligence) or the next Socrates. It is an interdisciplinary field, and with background knowledge such as philosophy, ethics, law, computer science, and probably a lot more, you’re more or less preparing yourself to become a certified AI ethicist.
After all this talk, you might be wondering, what about the salary expectations?
On Glassdoor, average salary is between $86,000 and one million per year
On ZipRecruiter, between $79,000 per year.
But it is also important to note that this can differ depending on your level of experience, education, the company/organization you work for, and your country. There is no standard salary.
For more on the role of an AI ethicist, you can check out this page.
‘So, that’s what AI ethics is about.’ I smile,
He thinned his lips and sighed, ‘That still sounds very boring. You’re gonna be poor forever.’
I shrugged.
Hope you enjoyed this read! As usual, tell me what you think in the comments and feel free to read some of my work!
