We are the last generation to experience analog and offline reality / The Information Revolution and Digital Ethics

According to Khabaronline News Agency, Reza Dastjerdi wrote in IBNA’s Dino-Andisheh service: “Ethics of AI: Principles, Challenges and Opportunities” by Luciano Floridi, a prominent Italian-British philosopher, founder of “Philosophy of Information” and one of the most influential interpreters of the digital revolution, was published by Oxford University Press in 2023 and recently translated into Persian by Alireza Seqatoleslami. This work, recently published by Kargadan Publications, not only examines the ethical foundations of artificial intelligence but also offers a policy-making approach for the development and deployment of intelligent systems.

Floridi’s book goes beyond merely writing a technical text on AI algorithms or a set of stereotypical ethical warnings. It offers a coherent analysis of agency and intelligence in the digital world, with deep implications for society, the environment, and policy-making.

Luciano Floridi is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary philosophy, having begun his studies at the University of Rome and receiving his Master’s and PhD in Philosophy from the University of Warwick in the UK in the 1990s. Floridi founded “Philosophy of Information,” and his research primarily focuses on digital ethics, AI ethics, philosophy of information, and philosophy of technology. Floridi’s project is a tetralogy on the foundations of information philosophy, known as “Principles of Information Philosophy.” So far, three volumes of this project have been published: “Information Philosophy” (2011), “Information Ethics” (2013), and “Information Logic” (2019). The current book, “Ethics of AI, Principles, Challenges and Opportunities,” is the first part of the fourth volume of this project.

Alireza Seqatoleslami, the translator of the work, addresses the importance of the work in the book’s introductory note, presenting it as a valuable philosophical and analytical work in the field of AI ethics and policy-making. According to him, due to Floridi’s philosophical background, the book has a consistent argumentative approach and is not only useful for ethics researchers (especially applied ethics) but also recommended for engineers, managers, lawyers, and policy-makers involved with intelligent systems. He further explains that this book differs from other recent works on AI ethics because it not only examines challenges but also provides a policy-making approach for developing AI beneficial to society.

Floridi’s preface begins with a description of the digital revolution, where life without digital technologies – from education and commerce to entertainment and healthcare – is unimaginable. Floridi considers this revolution a new chapter in human history, similar to the invention of the wheel, the alphabet, or the steam engine. According to him, we are the last generation to experience analog and offline reality, and future generations will never know it.

While pointing out the uncertainties of this digital transformation, which is amazing yet worrying, Floridi quotes Winston Churchill: “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.” According to him, in the early stages of building digital reality, we have the opportunity to shape it for the benefit of humanity and the environment.

Luciano Floridi

The book is part of Floridi’s larger project on the transformations of agency in the digital revolution. He sees artificial intelligence as “artificial agency,” which is a form of separation between agency (the ability to interact successfully with the world) and intelligence.

In the tetralogy “Principles of Information Philosophy,” this book is placed between the first and second volumes. The first volume defines information as meaningful and true data; the second volume examines the ethics of informational beings (inforgs) in the informational sphere (infosphere); the third volume focuses on conceptual logic. Finally, the present book, by emphasizing conceptual design, builds a bridge to information policy.

Floridi also criticizes philosophical misconceptions. In his view, epistemology should shift from representation to creation; ethics should focus on relationships; metaphysics on relations; logic on constraints; artificial intelligence on engineering agency without the need for biological intelligence; and politics on social relations.

The book has two main parts. Part One is titled “Understanding AI” and includes the first three chapters: 1. Past: The Emergence of AI, 2. Present: AI as a New Form of Agency, Not Intelligence, 3. Future: The Foreseeable Development of AI. Floridi recommends classic books like Russell and Norvig for a technical introduction.

Part Two, titled “Evaluating AI,” is theoretical and examines the ethical implications of this separation. Chapter 4 provides an integrated framework of ethical principles for AI; Chapter 5, “From Principles to Practices: The Dangers of Being Unethical,” discusses the risks of weakening these principles; Chapter 6, “Soft Ethics and AI Governance,” analyzes the relationship between ethical principles and legal norms, defining “soft ethics” as post-compliance ethics. Chapter 7, “Mapping Algorithmic Ethics,” covers ethical challenges in AI development; Chapter 8, “Bad Practices: Misuse of AI for Social Evil,” covers malicious uses; and finally, Chapter 9, “Good Practices: Appropriate Use of AI for Social Good,” covers beneficial practices.

The final chapters are dedicated to AI for social good: Chapter 10 is titled “How to Create a Good AI Society; Some Recommendations.” Chapter 11, “The Gambit: AI’s Impact on Climate Change,” covers the environmental impacts of AI and its role in combating climate change; Chapter 12, “AI and UN Sustainable Development Goals,” covers the use of AI to support the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, and Chapter 13 concludes with a summary.

Floridi describes the book’s style as a blend of analytical and continental traditions, linking it to Peirce’s pragmatism and Simon’s philosophy of technology. He emphasizes that philosophy, at its best, is conceptual design and understanding the world to improve it. Floridi sees AI as a continuation of intelligent behavior through other methods, similar to a smartphone playing chess without biological intelligence, and finds its importance in a policy-making approach.

“Ethics of AI – Principles, Challenges and Opportunities” has been published in 464 pages by Kargadan Publications.