Page 5 - Doing Data Together by The Scotsman
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our future. We must not be passive observers in the march of progress. As she points out, technology and
AI are “human all the way” – and technology does not live outside our social world, it is interwoven. Her mission, in the Centre for Technomoral Futures, is to bring together expertise in technology and ethics, to design and manage systems that work better for people, to build better worlds. As Prof Vallor says: “How can we create something which isn’t a battle between technology and ethics
but something truly collaborative?
How can we use data and AI in socially and politically constructive ways to build systems and institutions that actually support people?”
At a time when the pandemic has raised fundamental questions about data privacy, these ethical discussions about technology and data are more important than ever.
Countries like South Korea were praised for their track-and-trace systems, but in the West, we are more reluctant to share the details of our daily movements, even if we can see the public health benefits.
A collaborative approach was at the heart of the global data community’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Main picture: Shutterstock
At the same time, millions of people seem content to tick boxes allowing online retailers or social media giants to use their private data.
Have we given over too much control of our data to large private corporations? Why are we apparently more reluctant to share information with the state, even if we can see that using our personal data can potentially help stop the spread of a pandemic?
These are fundamental questions, and we are asking them in Edinburgh.
As we seek to control the Covid-19
pandemic, to find a vaccine and distribute it to the people who need it, both ethics and ethical collaboration will be at the very heart of what we do.
The road ahead is uncertain and new challenges will emerge, but data will continue to shape our responses.
As data-driven innovation helps us to seek solutions, in Edinburgh our commitment is steadfast. We must do data right – and we must do it together.
Peter Mathieson is the Principal of the University of Edinburgh
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