This report sets out a broad roadmap for work on the ethical and societal implications of algorithms, data and AI (ADA).Their impact on people and society shapes practically every question of public policy, but discussion is not necessarily based on a shared understanding of either the core ethical issues, or an agreed framework that might underpin an ethical approach to the development and deployment of ADA-based technologies. Even where there is a broad consensus on core issues, such as bias, transparency, ownership and consent, they can be subject to different meanings in different contexts – interpretation in technical applications differs to that in the judicial system, for example. Similarly, ethical values such as fairness can be subject to different definitions across different languages, cultures and political systems.
Commissioned by the Nuffield Foundation with the aim of informing the Ada Lovelace Institute's work programme, and to help shape the research agenda on the increasingly important question of how society should equitably distribute the transformative power and benefits of data and AI while mitigating harm.
