Ethicists are not very ethical individuals. In fact, they are in a profession of knowing what is right and wrong. Perhaps, it is this confidence at knowing what is right and wrong that makes them less likely to act ethically in real life. In many respects, an ethicist is the most likely hypocrite because even after knowing something is wrong they are willing to commit the act. They are often seen preaching for the right things, but hardly applying any of it in practice in their own life. Furthermore, AI ethics is doomed if a human ethicist is relied on to develop the guiding principles as they are naturally unqualified. It is this feeling of entitlement that makes one consider doing something bad. They are also most likely to suffer from the god complex. Ethical and moral judgement is clouded in human nature. Do we really need to implement and replicate this flawed human nature in AI? In many cases, regular introspection and self-reflection are fundamentally important aspects of ethics and morality which may need to be extended into the generalizable AI machine.
24 October 2020
19 October 2020
10 October 2020
9 October 2020
Is There Really A Skills Shortage
In most cases, in industry, a skills shortage, invariably does not exist. There is always a case for more supply of skills than there is demand for them. Hence, why in many countries there is always a percentage of unemployment. People are willing and able to work. However, the problem stems from the fact that employers filter out perfectly good CVs. This may be a result of their own biases, their sense of likability, as a result of keyword hunting, their need to want more skills for substantially less pay, or the fact that they don't care to read the full candidate profile. In many organizations the first people that get involved in filtering CVs are non-technical individuals who have no understanding of the skills nor the context of how to use them. By the time the hiring manager receives the profiles they have already been whittled down through recruitment bias. While through the interview selection process even further bias is applied and in turn the person they decide to recruit may not necessarily even be the best candidate in the pile of CV applications. For many roles, a recruiter may receive anywhere from one to hundreds of CVs of which many are likely to be suitable for candidacy. The recruitment process is not very fair for candidates as it is a one-sided process to favor employers. There is relatively little respect or consideration for candidates during the application or through a conscious feedback process from the employer. In many cases, GDPR processes at organizations may not even be fully compliant nor provide transparency in regards to how the personal details have been processed and stored of candidates. Recruiters invariably may pass on CVs to managers who may then pass on CVs to other members of the team, all the while such personal details are being stored on multiple email accounts and may even get printed out in hardcopy. One may even notice the reckless use of candidate CVs as scratch paper. In some cases, consent to pass on details may be provided to recruiter but for whatever reason the recruiter may not decide to represent the candidate, during this time the candidate may not have any feedback of where and how their personal details have been processed, stored, or passed on. There needs to be more done to protect the rights of individuals and their personal details both when they are applying as candidates and when they transition into employees. Managers and recruiters seem to forget that the very candidate they mistreat, disrespect, or are inconsiderate towards during an application process could one day become the founder of a company that they may want to work with in the future. An individual deserves just as much respect when they are a candidate, when they are an employee, and as an employer. Can AI really be a solution towards solving many of the above issues created by humans? Perhaps, only if, managerial politics and biases in organizations can be removed from the equation.
