Intelligent Agents: Some Ethical Issues and Dilemmas

Dowling, C.

Not so long ago, intelligent software agents belonged in the realms of speculation and esoteric research. Today, like it or not, they are an important part of our everyday lives online. Characteristics commonly acknowledged as desirable include a degree of anthropomorphism or personification, the ability to learn from experience and consequently to respond flexibly to new situations, the capacity to interact both with users and with other agents, and a significant measure of autonomy in the pursuit of goals. The widespread implementation of agent based systems raises a number of issues that have clear ethical, even moral dimensions. While the image of an 'agent' may suggest that the technology is under the control of the user, the metaphor is less straightforward than it appears, and the confidence and security it engenders may sometimes be misplaced. Implicit in our understanding of the concept of agency is the notion of delegation. Important ethical aspects of this concept include the balance between autonomy and control, and questions related to trust, responsibility and privacy. While the 'usefulness' of agents in achieving certain outcomes is undeniable, this utility perhaps comes at a certain cost that we may or may not consider acceptable. Through consideration of our experiences of agents both in the physical world and online, this paper explores some of the ethical issues arising from the widespread implementation of intelligent agents within computer based environments.

Cite as: Dowling, C. (2001). Intelligent Agents: Some Ethical Issues and Dilemmas. In Proc. Selected papers from the 2nd Australian Institute of Computer Ethics Conference (AICE2000), Canberra. CRPIT, 1. Weckert, J., Ed. ACS. 28-32.

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