Information ethics

As its name suggest, information ethics is the branch of ethics dealing with information. It is a vast field and includes questions of applied and normative ethics. The field is also broad because it examines ethical questions in many categories, including the use of artificial intelligence, the philosophy of information, ethics in mass media, privacy and anonymity, and access to information. Because many parts of information ethics deal with technology, the field is constantly changing and evolving. Information ethics is also broad because it concerns people all over the world, and the influence of various cultures and perspectives is essential for a better understanding of the subject.

Background

The broadness of information ethics has also led to questions about its history and origin. Some contend that the field emerged in the 1940s, while others believe it did not originate until the 1980s. The earliest ideas to be part of the broader information ethics field were related to librarianship and library science. In the 1940s, scholars published books about various topics dealing with library science and ethics. For example, some publications dealt with the ideas of censorship, privacy, and access to information. These topics were related to information and its use and access. Also in the 1940s, scholars began publishing articles about computer ethics, which is another important part of information ethics. One of the most important early scholars in computer ethics was Norbert Wiener, an engineer at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Wiener helped develop some of the first electronic computers. While he and his colleagues worked with this technology, Wiener realized that it had huge ethical implications because of the major changes it could bring to society. He believed that computers and similar technologies would revolutionize human work and life. He published a number of books on the subject, which became important texts in the early field of computer ethics. Cybernetics (1948) described the ethical of using electronic computers. The Human Use of Human Beings (1950) discussed the ethical issues that technology could create.

The ideas that were published in the 1940s and 1950s developed over time, and eventually the field of information ethics emerged from both librarianship and computer ethics. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the field of information ethics was fully established. It was a large field that was concerned with many topics and disciplines. In 1988, scholar Rafael Capurro published an article on the topic, “Informationethos und Informationsethik” (“Information Ethos and Information Ethics”). In 1992, the Journal of Information Ethics was created. As technology advanced, the field of information ethics expanded with it, causing the number of professionals concerned with information ethics to significantly increase.

Overview

Information is sometimes compared to traditional Western ethical theories such as virtue ethics and utilitarianism. However, the field is not limited by Western philosophy and its definitions. Information ethics is influenced by ethical and philosophical traditions from around the world.

Information ethics is an extremely broad category incorporating many disciplines, such as librarianship. Librarians focus on data that can be sorted and classified. For example, books have authors, titles, publishers, and publication dates. This information can be used to organize groups of books. The individual pieces of information can themselves be organized into citations. Librarianship also deals with metadata, which is data about data. Many types of metadata exist, with some being as long as a piece of writing and including genre and keywords that help describe it. Taxonomy, which is the classification of information based on groups or sets, is also an important part of information ethics because it helps people organize and make use of information. Information ethics can be used to discuss the use of certain classification and taxonomic systems. For example, a common classification system used in Western libraries is the Dewey classification system. This system has certain biases that affect users’ experiences. Discussing these biases and their effects on those using a library is a question of information ethics.

Computer ethics and cyberethics make up another important discipline in information ethics. The field first dealt with electronic computers and focused on issues such as automation, or replacing human work with the work of computers and machines. This topic remains an important issue in computer ethics. The discipline expanded rapidly throughout the twentieth century as technology also rapidly changed. Two important topics in the discipline of computer ethics are privacy and anonymity. These topics are related to computer ethics because computers and the Internet have fundamentally changed people’s privacy. Anonymity—which can help ensure safety but can also allow people to avoid accountability—is another important topic in the field. Computer ethics also deals with artificial intelligence (AI). The ethics of using the technology, replacing human workers with robots, and the treatment of AI devices are all considered in information ethics. Computer crime is yet another relevant topic. It includes hacking, spying, using computer viruses, and implementing security.

Media ethics is another important discipline in computer ethics. This field deals with the collection, preparation, and dissemination of information using the mass media. Mass media include print sources, such as books and magazines, and electronic sources, such as television and the Internet. The media have a huge influence on human beliefs and, therefore, actions, so this topic is also an important part of information ethics. People who study media ethics consider many topics, including the appropriate ways to collect information, the use of violent images or descriptions, and objectivity and fairness.

The field of information ethics includes countless other disciplines. Intellectual property, which involves intangible items that people create, is part of the field. Intellectual property is easier to take and use without permission, making it much harder to protect than tangible objects. Access to information, including the difference in access between rich nations and poor nations, is also a topic in the field of information ethics.

AI is projected to have positive benefits in many diverse economic sectors such as healthcare, research, computer coding, and others by automating tasks previously done by humans. This immense potential includes the possibility that these new capabilities can be used for harmful purposes.

Nonetheless, ethical issues have emerged in areas such as privacy and with algorithms biased against social groups. As AI becomes employed, there is an evident need for transparency. Ethics dictate that people should be informed when a particular service is employing AI. Calls for regulation have emerged to ensure fair and proper use of AI in business practices. With these come concerns that AI will lead to the displacement of jobs formerly held by humans.

In 2021, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proposed a human-rights approach to AI based on ten guiding principles. These were meant to codify the ethical use of AI-based. The first is a principle known as proportionality. This is the belief that AI should be employed only to the extent necessary to pursue a legitimate objective. Other values were Safety and Security, or the conviction that known and unwanted harm from AI should be avoided. UNESCO advocates respect for privacy as well as adaptive governance so that international law is respected with the use of AI. Almost 200 countries have adopted UNESCO’s code of ethics.

Bibliography

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