Many companies are beginning to test and use emerging technologies, including generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI), to add efficiency and financial value.
However, more than half (56%) of respondents to Deloitte’s second annual report on the State of Ethics and Trust in Technology said that either their company does not have Gen AI-specific ethics guidance or that they’re not aware of such guidance on the use of Gen AI.
“Formulating and abiding by robust standards and protocols can help forestall potential risks and harms of Gen AI,” the report said. “Before developing a specific set of standards and policies governing AI, the company should first consider defining ethical principles.”
Respondents were business and technical professionals actively involved in either developing, consuming, or managing emerging technologies, encompassing nine regions.
The lack of ethics guidance from companies is driving ethics concerns, as employees harbour conflicting views on the social impacts of emerging technologies. Fifty-seven per cent of respondents view cognitive technologies, including Gen AI, as “technologies with the most potential for serious ethical risk”, the report said. Yet, 39% feel cognitive technologies have the most potential for social good.
As the benefits of increased AI use become more top of mind for companies, so do the risks involved, the report said. Respondents rate reputational damage (38%), human damage (27%), and regulatory penalties (17%) as the leading risks for ethical missteps in applying AI.
“Ethical missteps can leave customers distrusting the organisation and tarnishing an organisation’s hard-won positive brand sentiment,” the report said. Other potential harms include violations of privacy, technology-assisted discrimination, challenges to human agency, and job displacement.
Despite ambiguity around job safety, 49% of respondents said workers at their organisation displaced by AI moved to different roles, retrained, and upskilled, the report said. Twenty-seven per cent said they have not had workers displaced by AI; 13% said workers moved to different roles but were not retrained or upskilled; and 11% said jobs at their organisation were terminated.
Deloitte suggests four approaches for establishing ethics principles related to emerging technologies:
Meet compliance and regulatory standards: “The focus of this approach is operating within legal, published guidelines minimally impacted by company values,” the report said.
Align principles with company culture: The report recommends alignment within “formal and informal systems, behaviours, and values”.
Follow standards of conduct: The report mentions professional responsibilities such as avoiding discrimination, conflicts of interest, insider trading, bribery, and other unethical behaviours.
Define specific ethical standards: The report recommends that companies avoid a boilerplate approach because the technologies themselves are different and therefore need specificity.
“There is an inherent opportunity to apply emerging technologies for societal good while creating financial value for the enterprise,” Kwasi Mitchell, chief purpose and DEI officer at Deloitte, said in a news release. “However, the adoption of Gen AI is outpacing the development of ethical principles around the use of the technology, intensifying the potential risks to society and corporate trust if these standards continue to lag.”
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