Ethics and AI
Overview
Having an understanding of the ethical use of AI and being able to reflect upon and critically assess the appropriateness of AI in different contexts is a critical skill for business leaders. Businesses that fail to use AI in an ethical way or fail to use ethical AI systems are at risk of a range of consequences. These include breaches of law (e.g. privacy, discrimination), industry regulation and good governance principles. This also means that organisations are at risk of losing their social licence to operate.
In this reflective essay you will consider these issues with reference to your own perspectives. The form. of reflective essay has been chosen because the best business leaders learn from experience and exposure to new ideas, information and evidence, and they exhibit self-awareness of the inputs that shape their worldviews and perspectives. This reflective essay will help you build these reflective capabilities, whilst also assessing your knowledge, analytical ability and communication skills. It ties to your unit learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Task Requirements
You are required to prepare a Reflective Essay of 1,200 words based on your analysis and reflection of the exam scandal related to high school Year 12 exams in the UK in 2020 (including A/Level and GCSE exams and International Baccalaureate exams). This BBC article describes the scandal and has links to other related articles- https://www.bbc.com/news/education-53923279
The real-life scandal involves high school students taking these exams which determines the grades for university admission. Due to Covid-19 and its impact, students were unable to sit physical exams and instead of holding online exams, the governing bodies decided on the use of an AI-based algorithm and data analysis of students’ prior school performances to develop a final grades. The grades produced by the AI-based algorithm resulted in outcomes which were quite different to student performance and expectations and in many instances led to strange outcomes which were unexplainable by a review of student course work performances.
In your Reflective Essay, you should consider and include responses to the following case questions (these questions are only to guide your analysis and responses and don’t have to be answered individually):
1. Who are the stakeholders in the case?
2. How did the use of AI-based algorithms and related decisions impact on each key stakeholder and what actions did they take.
3. What are the ethical theories that apply in this case and how were they implicated in the case?
4. How could ethical theories and legislative requirements be used in a different way to help avoid the scandal?
Whatever change has or hasn’t occurred, any claims that you make need to be supported by evidence (the reading itself, your learning process or materials/discussions you have been exposed to throughout the unit, or your own experiences) and clear reasoning. You can also draw on other material and learnings you’ve been exposed to throughout the unit when explaining your reasoning or the inputs that have shaped your thinking beyond the article you read. Drawing on the guidance provided for reflective essay writing and published here, you should be sure to think about:
· what people have said
· what you have read
· what you yourself are thinking
· how your thinking has changed.
(NB: The points above are also only to guide your thinking and don’t require individual answers)
In preparing to complete the Reflective Essay, please ensure you:
1. Access and read all articles referenced in the core BBC article listed in the link above
2. Read this paper: Dignum, V, 2017, Responsible Autonomy (Dignum, V., 2017. Responsible autonomy. arXiv preprint arXiv:1706.02513.)
3. Review any other relevant learning content and material you think would help in this Task.
ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE ON WRITING A REFLECTIVE ESSAY:
https://www.monash.edu/student-academic-success/excel-at-writing/annotated-assessment-samples/education/education-reflective-writing/description-vs.-analysis
https://www.monash.edu/student-academic-success/excel-at-writing/annotated-assessment-samples/arts/arts-reflective-writing-in-arts
https://www.monash.edu/student-academic-success/excel-at-writing/annotated-assessment-samples/arts/arts-reflective-writing-in-arts/approaching-a-reflective-or-reflexive-writing-task
Task Rules
WEIGHTING: 40%
DUE DATE: Week 8, Friday 13 September, 2024 11:55 PM AEST
WORD COUNT: Strictly 1,200 words (+/-10%).
· Everything except your cover sheet, table of contents and your bibliography and your Responsible Use of AI statement counts towards the word count.
· Any report outside of this word limit will be penalised.
· Your document should include a word count on the title page.
Responsible Use of Generative AI Statement
Generative AI use is NOT restricted for this Reflective Essay. You are allowed to engage and use Generative AI in a responsible manner. However, your responsible use of Generative AI must be evidenced in the following ways:
1. Any use of generative AI must be appropriately acknowledged. Each submission must be accompanied by a declaration as follows
I acknowledge the use of [insert AI system(s) and link] to [specific use of generative artificial intelligence]. The prompts used include [list of prompts]. The output from these prompts was used to [explain use].
or alternatively:
No content generated by AI technologies has been used in this assessment.
You should ensure your declaration aligns with the guidance provided here
1. Further, where you use the ideas, wording or content of Generative AI in your essay, you must also reference this material, just like you would with an article or book. Major publishing and referencing styles have provided guidance for how to cite AI in different circumstances. The guidance provided by the Chicago Manual of Style. is very clear (see here). This sets out that if you use a browser extension such as ShareGPT or A.I. Archives to make your conversations with ChatGPT publicly available, then you can treat the citation as a website. If you do not use these tools, then you need to cite ChatGPT as you would “a conversation like an email, phone, or text conversation—or any other type of personal communication.”
2. The process you followed in your responsible use of Generative AI must also be disclosed with the following details:
1. The different query prompts used
2. How and why you developed and used these prompts
3. What data you gathered from this responsible use and how you have used it in your Reflection.
When you are citing ChatGPT, Monash Co-pilot or other AI tools, you should make clear what prompt was provided, as follows:
Format:
"Description of chat" prompt. Name of AI tool, version of AI tool, Company, Date of chat, URL.
Example:
"Examples of harm reduction initiatives" prompt. ChatGPT, 23 Mar. version, OpenAI, 4 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
In-Text Citation Example:
("Examples of harm reduction")
Although you are permitted to use generative AI in this assessment, you should also consider the merits of using a generative AI system to generate content about its own ethical governance! You might find it is more beneficial to compare and contrast the output generative AI gives you (making sure you cite this output in your paper in line with academic conventions and ensure it is reflected in your AI declaration!), with your own, or others views on what is ethical and appropriate, or to consider how the outputs provided by generative AI have shaped your thinking. Your voice and critical thinking and reflection must be visible and seen in your submission.
Students who fail to provide a Responsible Use of Generative AI Statement with their submission, will be given a score of zero for this assessment. Those who are found to have used Generative AI but declare they have not used it, will have an academic integrity case raised against them.
FORMAT/LAYOUT:
· Students are encouraged to access and use the support information and materials on the Monash LearnHQ pages(https://www.monash.edu/learnhq).
· Specifically, use this link to access information and guidance on how to write a reflective essay: https://www.monash.edu/student-academic-success/excel-at-writing/annotated-assessment-samples/business-and-economics/buseco-reflective-essay
Use the APA 7 citation style. to reference any source material that you draw on (academic articles, white papers, reports, webpages, etc.).
SUBMISSION DETAILS:
· Individuals are to submit ONE report (WORD format, i.e. doc or.docx) via Moodle using the “Assignment 2 - Reflection essay” link.
· The assignment will be processed via Turnitin.
· You will be required to agree to the submission statement.
· Your files should be named X_Y_Z.docx where X is up to 8 characters of your SURNAME, Y is up to 7 characters of your FIRSTNAME, and Z is your STUDENT ID – e.g.: Thambar_Paul_0101010
LATE SUBMISSIONS:
· Late submissions will be penalised 5% for every day late (penalty will be applied proportionately for part days – e.g.: 3 hours late will attract a proportionate penalty and not the full 5% per day). Any submission made after 7 calendar days will NOT be accepted or graded.
· Extensions will only be provided to students who receive prior approval from the Chief Examiner before the due date.