Imagine AI making recommendations during a pandemic. Suggesting that care of the young take precedence over care for those less likely to survive. Isn’t that ethical?

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09685332231193944

The possibility of AI-induced medical manslaughter: Unexplainable decisions, epistemic vices, and a new dimension of moral luck

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in healthcare provides a compelling case for a re-examination of ‘gross negligence’ as the basis for criminal liability. AI is a smart agency, often using self-learning architectures, with the capacity to make autonomous decisions. Healthcare practitioners (HCPs) will remain responsible for validating AI recommendations but will have to contend with challenges such as automation bias, the unexplainable nature of AI decisions, and an epistemic dilemma when clinicians and systems disagree. AI decisions are the result of long chains of sociotechnical complexity with the capacity for undetectable errors to be baked into systems, which introduces a new dimension of moral luck. The ‘advisory’ nature of AI decisions constructs a legal fiction, which may leave HCPs unjustly exposed to the legal and moral consequences when systems fail. On balance, these novel challenges point towards a legal test of subjective recklessness as the better option: it is practically necessary; falls within the historic range of the offence; and offers clarity, coherence, and a welcome reconnection with ethics.

This is close to the type of attack that immediately precedes invasion. The ability to tell amateurs from pros is critical.

https://www.databreaches.net/hackers-bring-down-polands-train-network-in-massive-cyber-attack/

Hackers bring down Poland’s train network in massive cyber attack

Ticker News reports:

Polish intelligence agencies are currently conducting an investigation into a cyberattack that targeted the country’s railway infrastructure, according to reports from Polish media.

The incident, which occurred overnight, involved hackers gaining unauthorized access to railway frequencies, resulting in disruptions to train services in the northwestern region of Poland. The Polish Press Agency (PAP) revealed that during the attack, the hackers broadcasted Russia’s national anthem and a speech by President Vladimir Putin.

Read more at Ticker News.

The problem with “Helpful by design?”

https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202308.1271/v1

Exploring Ethical Boundaries: Can ChatGPT Be Prompted to Give Advice on How to Cheat in University Assignments?

Generative artificial intelligence (AI), in particular large language models such as ChatGPT have reached public consciousness with a wide-ranging discussion of their capabilities and suitability for various professions. The extant literature on the ethics of generative AI revolves around its usage and application, rather than the ethical framework of the responses provided. In the education sector, concerns have been raised with regard to the ability of these language models to aid in student assignment writing with the potentially concomitant student misconduct of such work is submitted for assessment. Based on a series of ‘conversations’ with multiple replicates, using a range of discussion prompts, this paper examines the capability of ChatGPT to provide advice on how to cheat in assessments. Since its public release in November 2022, numerous authors have developed ‘jailbreaking’ techniques to trick ChatGPT into answering questions in ways other than the default mode. While the default mode activates a safety awareness mechanism that prevents ChatGPT from providing unethical advice, [??? Bob] other modes partially or fully bypass the this mechanism and elicit answers that are outside expected ethical boundaries. ChatGPT provided a wide range of suggestions on how to best cheat in university assignments, with some solutions common to most replicates (‘plausible deniability,’ language adjustment of contract written text’). Some of ChatGPT’s solutions to avoid cheating being detected were cunning, if not slightly devious. The implications of these findings are discussed.