Air Canada chatbot promised a discount. Now the airline has to pay it

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Kyle Melnick: “After his grandmother died in Ontario a few years ago, British Columbia resident Jake Moffatt visited Air Canada’s website to book a flight for the funeral. He received assistance from a chatbot, which told him the airline offered reduced rates for passengers booking last-minute travel due to tragedies.

Moffatt bought a nearly $600 ticket for a next-day flight after the chatbot said he would get some of his money back under the airline’s bereavement policy as long as he applied within 90 days, according to a recent civil-resolutions tribunal decision.

But when Moffatt later attempted to receive the discount, he learned that the chatbot had been wrong. Air Canada only awarded bereavement fees if the request had been submitted before a flight. The airline later argued the chatbot wasa separate legal entity “responsible for its own actions,” the decision said.

Moffatt filed a claim with the Canadian tribunal, which ruled Wednesday that Air Canada owed Moffatt more than $600 in damages and tribunal fees after failing to provide “reasonable care.”

As companies have added artificial intelligence-powered chatbots to their websites in hopes of providing faster service, the Air Canada dispute sheds light on issues associated with the growing technology and how courts could approach questions of accountability. The Canadian tribunal in this case came down on the side of the customer, ruling that Air Canada did not ensure its chatbot was accurate…(More)”

Community views on the secondary use of general practice data: Findings from a mixed-methods study

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Paper by Annette J. Braunack-Mayer et al: “General practice data, particularly when combined with hospital and other health service data through data linkage, are increasingly being used for quality assurance, evaluation, health service planning and research.Using general practice data is particularly important in countries where general practitioners (GPs) are the first and principal source of health care for most people.

Although there is broad public support for the secondary use of health data, there are good reasons to question whether this support extends to general practice settings. GP–patient relationships may be very personal and longstanding and the general practice health record can capture a large amount of information about patients. There is also the potential for multiple angles on patients’ lives: GPs often care for, or at least record information about, more than one generation of a family. These factors combine to amplify patients’ and GPs’ concerns about sharing patient data….

Adams et al. have developed a model of social licence, specifically in the context of sharing administrative data for health research, based on an analysis of the social licence literature and founded on two principal elements: trust and legitimacy.In this model, trust is founded on research enterprises being perceived as reliable and responsive, including in relation to privacy and security of information, and having regard to the community’s interests and well-being.

Transparency and accountability measures may be used to demonstrate trustworthiness and, as a consequence, to generate trust. Transparency involves a level of openness about the way data are handled and used as well as about the nature and outcomes of the research. Adams et al. note that lack of transparency can undermine trust. They also note that the quality of public engagement is important and that simply providing information is not sufficient. While this is one element of transparency, other elements such as accountability and collaboration are also part of the trusting, reflexive relationship necessary to establish and support social licence.

The second principal element, legitimacy, is founded on research enterprises conforming to the legal, cultural and social norms of society and, again, acting in the best interests of the community. In diverse communities with a range of views and interests, it is necessary to develop a broad consensus on what amounts to the common good through deliberative and collaborative processes.

Social licence cannot be assumed. It must be built through public discussion and engagement to avoid undermining the relationship of trust with health care providers and confidence in the confidentiality of health information…(More)”

Could AI Speak on Behalf of Future Humans?

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Konstantin Scheuermann & Angela Aristidou : “An enduring societal challenge the world over is a “perspective deficit” in collective decision-making. Whether within a single business, at the local community level, or the international level, some perspectives are not (adequately) heard and may not receive fair and inclusive representation during collective decision-making discussions and procedures. Most notably, future generations of humans and aspects of the natural environment may be deeply affected by present-day collective decisions. Yet, they are often “voiceless” as they cannot advocate for their interests.

Today, as we witness the rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) systems into the everyday fabric of our societies, we recognize the potential in some AI systems to surface and/or amplify the perspectives of these previously voiceless stakeholders. Some classes of AI systems, notably Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Llama, Gemini), are capable of acting as the proxy of the previously unheard by generating multi-modal outputs (audio, video, and text).

We refer to these outputs collectively here as “AI Voice,” signifying that the previously unheard in decision-making scenarios gain opportunities to express their interests—in other words, voice—through the human-friendly outputs of these AI systems. AI Voice, however, cannot realize its promise without first challenging how voice is given and withheld in our collective decision-making processes and how the new technology may and does unsettle the status quo. There is also an important distinction between the “right to voice” and the “right to decide” when considering the roles AI Voice may assume—ranging from a passive facilitator to an active collaborator. This is one highly promising and feasible possibility for how to leverage AI to create a more equitable collective future, but to do so responsibly will require careful strategy and much further conversation…(More)”.

Private tech, humanitarian problems: how to ensure digital transformation does no harm

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Report by Access Now: “People experiencing vulnerability as a consequence of conflict and violence often rely on a small group of humanitarian actors, trusted because of their claims of neutrality, impartiality, and independence from the warring parties. They rely on these humanitarian organisations and agencies for subsistence, protection, and access to basic services and information, in the darkest times in their lives. Yet these same actors can expose them to further harm. Our new report, Mapping Humanitarian Tech: exposing protection gaps in digital transformation programmes, examines the partnerships between humanitarian actors and private corporations. Our aim is to show how these often-opaque partnerships impact the digital rights of the affected communities, and to offer recommendations for keeping people safe…(More)”.

Manipulation by design

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Jan Trzaskowski: “Human behaviour is affected by architecture, including how online user interfaces are designed. The purpose of this article is to provide insights into the regulation of behaviour modification by the design of choice architecture in light of the European Union data protection law (GDPR) and marketing law (UCPD). It has become popular to use the term ‘dark pattern’ (also ‘deceptive practices’) to describe such practices in online environments. The term provides a framework for identifying and discussing ‘problematic’ design practices, but the definitions and descriptions are not sufficient in themselves to draw the fine line between legitimate (lawful) persuasion and unlawful manipulation, which requires an inquiry into agency, self-determination, regulation and legal interpretation. The main contribution of this article is to place manipulative design, including ‘dark patterns’, within the framework of persuasion (marketing), technology (persuasive technology) and law (privacy and marketing)…(More)”.

The Digital Double Bind: Change and Stasis in the Middle East

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Mohamed Zayani and Joe F. Khalil: “The digital has emerged as a driving force of change that is reshaping everyday life and affecting nearly every sphere of vital activity. Yet, its impact has been far from uniform. The multifaceted implications of these ongoing shifts differ markedly across the world, demanding a nuanced understanding of specific manifestations and local experiences of the digital.

In The Digital Double Bind, Mohamed Zayani and Joe F. Khalil explore how the Middle East’s digital turn intersects with complex political, economic, and socio-cultural dynamics. Drawing on local research and rich case studies, they show how the same forces that brought promises of change through digital transformation have also engendered tensions and contradictions. The authors contend that the ensuing disjunctures have ensnared the region in a double bind, which represents the salient feature of an unfolding digital turn. The same conditions that drive the state, market, and public immersion in the digital also inhibit the region’s drive to change.

The Digital Double Bind reconsiders the question of technology and change, moving beyond binary formulations and familiar trajectories of the network society. It offers a path-breaking analysis of change and stasis in the Middle East and provides a roadmap for a critical engagement with digitality in the Global South…(More)”.

Handbook of Artificial Intelligence at Work

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book edited by Martha Garcia-Murillo and Andrea Renda: “With the advancement in processing power and storage now enabling algorithms to expand their capabilities beyond their initial narrow applications, technology is becoming increasingly powerful. This highly topical Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on work, assessing its effect on an array of economic sectors, the resulting nature of work, and the subsequent policy implications of these changes.

Featuring contributions from leading experts across diverse fields, the Handbook of Artificial Intelligence at Work takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding AI’s connections to existing economic, social, and political ecosystems. Considering a range of fields including agriculture, manufacturing, health care, education, law and government, the Handbook provides detailed sector-specific analyses of how AI is changing the nature of work, the challenges it presents and the opportunities it creates. Looking forward, it makes policy recommendations to address concerns, such as the potential displacement of some human labor by AI and growth in inequality affecting those lacking the necessary skills to interact with these technologies or without opportunities to do so.

This vital Handbook is an essential read for students and academics in the fields of business and management, information technology, AI, and public policy. It will also be highly informative from a cross-disciplinary perspective for practitioners, as well as policy makers with an interest in the development of AI technology…(More)”

Data Science, AI and Data Philanthropy in Foundations : On the Path to Maturity

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Report by Filippo Candela, Sevda Kilicalp, and Daniel Spiers: “This research explores the data-related initiatives currently undertaken by a pool of foundations from across Europe. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has investigated the level of data work within philanthropic foundations, even though the rise of data and its importance has increasingly been recognised in the non-profit sector. Given that this is an inaugural piece of research, the study takes an exploratory approach, prioritising a comprehensive survey of data practices foundations are currently implementing or exploring. The goal was to obtain a snapshot of the current level of maturity and commitment of foundations regarding data-related matters…(More)”

How Health Data Integrity Can Earn Trust and Advance Health

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Jochen Lennerz, Nick Schneider and Karl Lauterbach: “Efforts to share health data across borders snag on legal and regulatory barriers. Before detangling the fine print, let’s agree on overarching principles.

Imagine a scenario in which Mary, an individual with a rare disease, has agreed to share her medical records for a research project aimed at finding better treatments for genetic disorders. Mary’s consent is grounded in trust that her data will be handled with the utmost care, protected from unauthorized access, and used according to her wishes. 

It may sound simple, but meeting these standards comes with myriad complications. Whose job is it to weigh the risk that Mary might be reidentified, even if her information is de-identified and stored securely? How should that assessment be done? How can data from Mary’s records be aggregated with patients from health systems in other countries, each with their own requirements for data protection and formats for record keeping? How can Mary’s wishes be respected, both in terms of what research is conducted and in returning relevant results to her?

From electronic medical records to genomic sequencing, health care providers and researchers now have an unprecedented wealth of information that could help tailor treatments to individual needs, revolutionize understanding of disease, and enhance the overall quality of health care. Data protection, privacy safeguards, and cybersecurity are all paramount for safeguarding sensitive medical information, but much of the potential that lies in this abundance of data is being lost because well-intentioned regulations have not been set up to allow for data sharing and collaboration. This stymies efforts to study rare diseases, map disease patterns, improve public health surveillance, and advance evidence-based policymaking (for instance, by comparing effectiveness of interventions across regions and demographics). Projects that could excel with enough data get bogged down in bureaucracy and uncertainty. For example, Germany now has strict data protection laws—with heavy punishment for violations—that should allow de-identified health insurance claims to be used for research within secure processing environments, but the legality of such use has been challenged…(More)”.

AI is too important to be monopolised

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Marietje Schaake: “…From the promise of medical breakthroughs to the perils of election interference, the hopes of helpful climate research to the challenge of cracking fundamental physics, AI is too important to be monopolised.

Yet the market is moving in exactly that direction, as resources and talent to develop the most advanced AI sit firmly in the hands of a very small number of companies. That is particularly true for resource-intensive data and computing power (termed “compute”), which are required to train large language models for a variety of AI applications. Researchers and small and medium-sized enterprises risk fatal dependency on Big Tech once again, or else they will miss out on the latest wave of innovation. 

On both sides of the Atlantic, feverish public investments are being made in an attempt to level the computational playing field. To ensure scientists have access to capacities comparable to those of Silicon Valley giants, the US government established the National AI Research Resource last month. This pilot project is being led by the US National Science Foundation. By working with 10 other federal agencies and 25 civil society groups, it will facilitate government-funded data and compute to help the research and education community build and understand AI. 

The EU set up a decentralised network of supercomputers with a similar aim back in 2018, before the recent wave of generative AI created a new sense of urgency. The EuroHPC has lived in relative obscurity and the initiative appears to have been under-exploited. As European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said late last year: we need to put this power to use. The EU now imagines that democratised supercomputer access can also help with the creation of “AI factories,” where small businesses pool their resources to develop new cutting-edge models. 

There has long been talk of considering access to the internet a public utility, because of how important it is for education, employment and acquiring information. Yet rules to that end were never adopted. But with the unlocking of compute as a shared good, the US and the EU are showing real willingness to make investments into public digital infrastructure.

Even if the latest measures are viewed as industrial policy in a new jacket, they are part of a long overdue step to shape the digital market and offset the outsized power of big tech companies in various corners of our societies…(More)”.