A Cybernetics Approach to Ethical AI Design

Cybernetics and artificial intelligence share a long, intertwined history. This module explores the relationship between cybernetics and AI ethics, and looks at how cybernetics can be leveraged to reframe how we think about and how we undertake ethical AI design. The module is divided into three sections, beginning with an introduction to cybernetics. Following that, we explore different ways of thinking about AI ethics, before concluding by bringing the two concepts together to understand a new approach to ethical AI design.

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Coded Bias, Coded Bias. Directed by Shalini Kantayya, performances by Joy Buolamwini, Cathy O'Neil, Meredith Broussard, Silkie Carlo, Virginia Eubanks, Ravi Naik, Safiya Umoja Noble and Zeynep Tufekci, director's cut, 7th Empire Media, 2020.
Touching the Future: Stories of systems, serendipity and grace, Bell, G.. "Touching the Future: Stories of systems, serendipity and grace." Griffith Review 71, 2021.
The term 'ethical AI' is finally starting to mean something, Kind, C.. "The term 'ethical AI' is finally starting to mean something." Venture Beat, August 22, 2020.
Maralinga Tjarutja, Maralinga Tjarutja. Directed by Larissa Behrendt, performances by Jeremy Lebois, Hilary Williams and Mima Smart, director's cut, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2021.
The Ratio Club and the rise of British cybernetics, Alex Hern, ‘The Ratio Club and the rise of British cybernetics’, Chips with Everything (podcast), The Guardian, 10 February 2017.