What do we mean by Data Ethics

In a nutshell

It’s simply about using data & AI in such a way that values and respects people. That’s it. Not really rocket science, is it? But, like most things, when it comes to actually doing it in real life, things can get a lot murkier.

Valuing people

So how do we show that we value people when it comes to data and AI? Well, first up, we should be clear about what we are doing with it and what people will really get out of it (honestly, without overselling or hiding details). We should also protect their wellbeing along the way by looking after their data, being aware of bias and making sure we're not inadvertently causing harm. Lastly, and I think this is super important, we need to provide a way to fix things when issues arise (even if that means having a real person available).

Why is it so hard?

Most of us would agree that we all deserve to be treated this way, so it’s interesting to think about why this falls away when we’re at work. I suspect there are a couple of things at play here. First up is that we are often quite disconnected from our customers, which is super easy to do with all the automation and AI going on and as a result we forget to think of them as ‘real people’.

The second is that we’re often juggling shorter-term goals like shareholder returns or efficiency gains and this often takes our attention away from the impact we might have on people. Now, don’t get me wrong, I get it, businesses need to be profitable and public services need to manage their budgets responsibly - but I think we can do that and still treat people with care and respect - these things aren’t mutually exclusive.

The building blocks already exist

The good news is that most organisation will have value statements that they like to align themselves with. And I’ll wager that most will have things around being customer centric, putting customers first, being transparent or even doing the right thing. Hopefully some bells are ringing🤞and you can see that in actual fact, valuing people sits right at the heart of these customer values. The ethical building blocks are there - we just need to use them.

So, here’s the challenge 

Take a minute to look at your company's value statements and think about where valuing people fits in and how something you’re working on right now links in. Not working for an organisation - no worries, try and see where valuing people fits in with your own personal values.