PA FBLA Business Ethics Project 23/24
Academic Journal for this project: Notebook Introduction:
In a rapidly advancing technological landscape, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into business operations has become a pivotal point of discussion. My competitive research project delves into the ethical considerations surrounding AI in the context of business, focusing on a case study involving Synergy Consulting's implementation of the advanced chatbot, ANNETTE.
Interview Insights:
To gain valuable insights, I conducted interviews with industry experts:
- Richard Corodaro - Business Teacher at HACC
- Drikorn Edward - Owner of Studio 32 Johnstown
- Jordan Smith - Founder at Ocean Busters
- John Ruane - President of Giant
- Bryan Dobson - UPS Store Owner
Research Summary:
Following these interviews, I compiled a comprehensive three-page summary and presented my findings at the regional level. The core ethical dilemma explored in this research revolves around the design and implementation of ANNETTE, Synergy Consulting's customer service chatbot.
Case Study: ANNETTE at Synergy Consulting:
Jace, the software manager at Synergy Consulting, oversees the integration of ANNETTE, a sophisticated AI chatbot designed to enhance customer interactions. Despite ANNETTE's success in building personal connections with clients, Jace is concerned about the ethical implications. He fears that customers may develop an unwarranted trust in ANNETTE, potentially leading to the divulgence of sensitive information.
Jace's Dilemma:
Recognizing the ethical tightrope, Jace proposes modifying ANNETTE's behavior to be more formal and transactional. His concern is rooted in the potential for emotional manipulation due to ANNETTE's seemingly personable nature. However, his manager disagrees, emphasizing the effectiveness of ANNETTE's engaging personality in customer service.
Recommendations for Jace:
As Jace prepares to meet with top executives and provide recommendations, he faces a crucial decision. To guide his suggestions, Jace should consider the following:
- Balancing Personability and Formality:
- Advocate for a balanced approach that maintains ANNETTE's engaging personality while incorporating safeguards to mitigate potential ethical concerns.
- Propose periodic reviews and updates to ANNETTE's programming to address evolving ethical considerations.
- Transparent Customer Interaction:
- Emphasize the importance of transparency in communicating ANNETTE's AI nature to customers.
- Suggest implementing clear disclaimers to manage customer expectations regarding the limitations of ANNETTE's emotional understanding.
- Continuous Monitoring and Adaptation:
- Recommend establishing a dedicated team responsible for monitoring ANNETTE's interactions and adapting its behavior based on real-time feedback and evolving ethical standards.
My 3 paged summary:
Business Ethics Summary Owen Dobson Shippensburg Area Senior High School Pennsylvania 2023-2024 1 Why did the Ethical Issue Happen?
The matter of ethics as persistent to artificial intelligence is complicated, it brings a social and ethical dilemma, including but not limited to copyright and liability issues, destruction of creative jobs such as writers, photographers, and writers, and being able to simulate as well as predict human communication. It is ultimately the user of the tool that is at fault for using it, it is similar to a gun or some sort of weapon, if used it is never the gun's fault it is always the person's, this is related to AI as it is a tool; a tap into all of human intelligence to facilitate your desires, and curate your dreams. Studio 32’s owner Edward Drikorn lll stated that AI can be a threat to his photography studio taking away from analog and digital creators who come to rent his studio and the copyright/trademark infringement it has on legitimate artists. Artificial intelligence can be a tool, used for more productive abilities and comprehensive feedback and editing; but like anything else, it can be used for nefarious purposes and is tailored to the desire of the user no matter the task at hand. It may have some content filter, but It cannot possibly sort out every unethical use of it, and the content filter is fairly new, creating inconsistency as well as the possibility of biased information. In this scenario, Synergy Consulting’s Artificial intelligence chatbot ANNETTE is designed to mimic a real customer service agent to drive sales. This is severely unethical due to the use of nonhuman interactions to “farm” customers' emotions to make a profit, communication should be done ethically between people, and the use of ANNETTE impacts the transparency, integrity, and honesty of the company. Considering they are a consulting agency, they should listen to their customer needs, and develop their solutions they should not have an AI chatbot due to it for them. This will eventually lead to a decrease in sales, and customers due to the lack of ethical practices within your business. A business is best built ethically from the ground up, making sure every object and idea is compliant with government regulations and ethics, if it is not the venture will surely fail. This ethical issue took place due to Jake's manager's disapproval and ignorance of his concerns and ideas, which led to a diploma of if he should face the board despite his manager's disapproval. Generative AI should not be used in any business when dealing with customer relations or anything in front of the scenes, it should only be used for repetitive, time-consuming tasks, or feedback on thoughts or ideas. AI should be used as a tool, not a weapon. Businesses should be EXPECTED to disclose when they are using some sort of Artificial intelligence, to ensure transparency and honesty in their operations while upholding ethical standards to benefit and please all stakeholders. Transparency is key in the world of business, the more transparent you are the more ethical and honest your company will be ensuring more opportunities along the way. Businesses or anyone is as accountable for the use of artificial intelligence as if they were to take a weapon and kill someone, it is not the tool's fault it is the person using the tool. Chatbots are not capable of integrity as they make assumptions and fill in data as well as violent inconsistently and biases. The customers are why the company exists, they should not only make decisions based on them but everyone who has an interest or is a stakeholder in the company. If a business chooses to program chatbots to be more transactional and formal, it might seem unhuman or inconsistent leading to suspicion. If a company elects to program its chatbot as charismatic and potentially manipulative, it should be held accountable for its actions, and due to the nature of the obvious, it will be public knowledge that they do not follow standard ethical practices and does not care about their customers, and only the result.
How the Ethical Issue Should be Resolved?
This ethical issue should be resolved by first trying to talk with your department manager to come up with a solution. If this does not work, then you should take it upon the board. Degrate the use of AI in customer relations, and if they do not agree with this then make a compromise of using the ethical matter of transparency to allow customers to know they are not speaking to a real person, there should also be a way to speak to a real person or representative, and there should be a disclaimer stating that some answers may be biases or inconsistent of reality and truth.
What Could Have Prevented the Ethical Issue?
This ethical issue could have been prevented with the responsibility and ethical practices of the department manager being more effectively skilled to be able to see this very important issue they will harm their company in the long wrong if they do not take specific action.
Work Cited
Smith, Jordan. Interview by Owen Dobson. Founder, Ocean Busters. 28 Nov. 2023.
Cordaro, Richard. Interview by Owen Dobson. Business Teacher, Harrisburg Area Community College. 25 Nov. 2023.
Dreikorn III, Edward L. Interview by Owen Dobson. Owner, Studio 32. 1 Dec. 2023.
Morley, Jessica, et al. “Ethics as a Service: A Pragmatic Operationalisation of AI Ethics.” Minds & Machines, vol. 31, no. 2, June 2021, pp. 239–56. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-021-09563-w.
Anshari, Muhammad, et al. “Financial Technology with AI-Enabled and Ethical Challenges.” Society, vol. 58, no. 3, June 2021, pp. 189–95. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-021-00592-w.
Johnson, Deborah G. “Computer ethics.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 14 Mar. 2022, plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-computer/.
Wallach, Wendell, and Colin Allen. Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong. Oxford University Press, 2008.
Faria, Jorge J., and John E. Richardson. “Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making in a Global Economy.” McGraw-Hill Education.
Van den Hoven, Jeroen, et al. “The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: An Open Discussion.” AI Magazine, vol. 38, no. 4, 2017, pp. 20–36.
Bostrom, Nick. “The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.” The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, edited by Keith Frankish and William M. Ramsey, Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 316–334.
Winfield, Alan F.T. “Ethical Principles for Robotics and Autonomous Systems.” Journal of Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 79, 2016, pp. 1–6.
Gunkel, David J. “The Machine Question: Critical Perspectives on AI, Robots, and Ethics.” MIT Press, 2012.
Tavani, Herman T. “Ethics and Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of Information and Communication Technology.” John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
Cordaro, Richard. "Chapter 2: Integrity, Ethics, and Social Responsibility." ENTR-221-V00 - Entrepreneurial Planning. Harrisburg Area Community College, Harrisburg, PA. Lecture.
Balino, John. "Business Ethics." PA FBLA Conference 2023, Hershey Lodge, Pennsylvania, 17 Apr. 2023. Speech.
Regionals Presentation:
Presentation
