Austin Tech Company Proposes Ethics Principles for Design of ‘Digital Humans’

UneeQ, an artificial intelligence company with its U.S. headquarters in Austin, has proposed five “laws” for the ethical design of so-called digital humans, which are lifelike chatbots used in customer-facing roles.

The company says the guidelines are needed to prevent an AI from “pretending to be human and being used for harmful, illegal, or illicit activities like hate speech and deep fakes.”

These are the ‘Five Laws’, which the company posted online saying they are “open for discussion, debate, and suggestions for improving them and speeding adoption”:

  • Honest and Transparency: Digital humans shall never pretend to be what they are not.
  • AI for Global Good: Digital humans should always be designed to help, not harm.
  • Right to Privacy: Digital humans must respect the privacy of those they interact with.
  • Respectful Behavior: Digital humans should be designed to uphold respectful behavior.
  • Co-design Principles: Co-design must be utilized to avoid bias and promote diversity.

In a press release, UneeQ said that it “wants the industry to adopt a principle-led, ethical approach to building a world with digital humans, which are already becoming part of our everyday lives…”

UneeQ’s customers include UBS, Vodafone, Southern Cross, and NAB’s UBank. The ‘digital humans’ are employed by such firms in a variety of roles, including customer service representative, bank manager, teacher, or nurse.

The company started in New Zealand under the name FaceMe, before rebranding and expanding operations to Australia, the U.S., and the U.K. It is led by founder and CEO Danny Tomsett and governed by a board chaired by Adam Clark, both tech entrepreneurs from New Zealand.

Tomsett said in the press release, “Interactions and relationships between man and machine are dramatically changing, and the industry needs to establish a moral compass of ethical business practices that recognize the impact and connection digital humans have with customers.”

“We want to provide a starting point on the right recognition and employment of digital humans—and invite feedback, so we can take the necessary, proactive steps to do the right thing as more human, AI-driven interactions move into the mainstream.”

According to UneeQ, digital humans are different from older kinds of automated chatbot in that they interact using “human-like expressions, warmth, and personality” — a difference that presents different ethical design challenges.

In digital humans, voice, vision, chatbot technology, and AI-powered computer-generated imagery (CGI) work together to determine the digital human’s behavior and speech.

Thus far UneeQ’s five laws have been endorsed by futurist QuHarrison Terry, co-founder of Inevitable Human. He commented, “These five laws by UneeQ are a novel and a necessary idea. It’s how we limit any sort of pandemonium from occurring out of the grand opportunity that is digital humanity.”

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