Ethical and Legal issues

From: Building Expert Systems: Principles, Procedures and

Applications, E.M. Awad, West Pub. Co., 1996, ISBN 0-314-06626-8

Ethics deals with: moral vs immoral, legal vs illegal

As a software engineer or programmer, you are obliged to make
ethical decisions:
nature of actions: are they fair, reasonable, conscionable?
consequences of actions or inactions: who gains, who loses?
consequences of actions on others: society issues
threats to ethics:
telecommuncations, networks, Internet
massive distributed databases
ease of access to information
view that stored information/knowledge are competitive
weapons

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Some ethics guidelines

William Allen (Boeings CEO for 14 years)

Do not be afraid to admit that you dont know.
Be definite - tell it like it is.
Try to promote honest feelings toward the company.
Dont talk too much... let others talk.
Be considerate of your associates views.
Above all, be human - keep your sense of humour and learn to
relax

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ACM Code of Ethics (extracts)

General Moral Imperatives

honour property rights including copyrights and patents
respect the privacy of others
honor confidentiality
Professional responsiblities
give comprehensive evaluations of computer systems and
their impact, with emphasis on possible risks
improve public understanding of computing and its
consequences
Organizational Leadership Imperatives
acknowledge and support ethical uses of computing systems
support policies that protect the dignity of users and others
affected by computing systems

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Ethics and Expert systems

approach system building using principles of integrity and ethics

dont oversell expert systems
be honest with weaknesses, possible problems
be honest with impact caused by inevitable errors

The zeal with which expert systems are built should be tempered
with the realization that they are based on human knowledge and
ideas, which are less than perfect.

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Legal issues

Who owns knowledge?

If expert is hired on a contract basis to make an expert system,
and perhaps receives royalties, s/he is more liable than if they
are an employee of the firm
if company purchases experts knowledge, s/he may escape
future liability
What if an expert employee is unwilling to release knowledge
gained during years of employment?
does the company have rights to that knowledge?
Scenario: an employee gains expertise via using an expert
system. Does the company have the exclusive rights to that
knowledge?
no, unless the employee signed an intellectual property rights
agreement withthe company when hired

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Legal liability

Case: A doctor consults a medical expert system to diagnose a

patient. The patient is treated but soon dies due to misdiagnosis
and improper treatment.
Who is liable?
knowledge engineer?
expert?
company who bought the system (hospital?)
shell programmer?
user (doctor)?
the expert system software itself?
all of the above?

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Expert System Liability

a) knowledge engineer: responsible for choosing expert; ensuring

systems accuracy and reliability; knowledge is properly acquired
and represented
KE is personally liable, unless an employee of the organization

b) domain expert: his or her knowledge is encapsulated in KB

again, contract vs employee relationship affects liability

c) shell developer: bugs in inference, other utilities

could be wide-ranging: lots of expert systems may be written!

d) user: user knowledge when inputting into the system; relying

on faulty diagnoses

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Expert System Liability

Product:
off-the-shelf software
mass-marketed
custom-designed, but affects a lot of customers
proving negligence is unnecesary to hold developer liable
can have express warranty disclaimer to limit liability

Service:
custom-designed software
must prove negligence
law of state applies

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Expert Systems and Liability

Knowledge engineering and computer programming is not yet

standardized or certified.
If/when it does, then KEs are subject to malpractice: negligence or
professional liability applied to developers for design defects in
systems tailored specifically for professional use.
May be an issue in the future, as KBSs and programming
matures.
a user can be liable for failing to use an expert system when one
is available.

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Future AI systems

What if an expert system autonomously evolves and learns while

used in the field?
how can expert or KE be held liable?
System may grow in ways totally unexpected from initial
developers.
Can the software itself be held liable?

Stay tuned.

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Summary of Legal Issues

1. expert owns knowledge if no prior agreement established (eg. preemployment contract).
2. KE is subject to personal liability if problems arise with system. If
KE is an employee, then employer is liable.
3. If expert system is a product, no proof of negligence is necessary.
A disclaimer of warranties can be used. Loss to developer is a
cost of doing business.
4. If expert system is a service, then contract law of state applies.
5. US courts are reluctant towards exclude warranty disclaimers.
6. Cases involving warranties require user show who is at fault and
why.

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