Date Time What are ethics of artificial intelligence? Three reasons to learn basics The ethics of artificial intelligence are relevant to all of us, often in ways we do not realise, and learning the basics now is a good idea. The new Ethics of AI online course is an easy way to get started. Ethics in artificial intelligence (AI) mean the values that guide us when we develop smart technologies, such as machine translation software, facial recognition applications or streaming services that use recommendation algorithms. But why should we be interested in ethical issues surrounding artificial intelligence? “Because we are all already part of various AI systems, and they are developing rapidly. Right now we are debating whether it is possible to identify political opinions from a person’s face or whether we can study underlying bias through algorithms. The further the algorithms spread and the more varied their applications, the bigger the impact they have on us. We should all develop AI literacy, and understanding the ethical questions is part of it,” says Anna-Mari Rusanen. She is university lecturer of cognitive science and the coordinating teacher of the new University of Helsinki course Ethics of AI.