Dr. Francesca Rossi presented “AI Ethics: from Principles to Practice” as a SSIT Webinar on 10 July 2025. Click here to watch the recording of this lecture.
Abstract
AI is going to bring huge benefits in terms of scientific progress, human wellbeing, economic value, and the possibility of finding solutions to major social and environmental problems. Supported by AI, we will be able to make more grounded decisions and to focus on the main values and goals of a decision process rather than on routine and repetitive tasks. However, such a powerful technology also raises some concerns, related for example to the black-box nature of some AI approaches, the possible discriminatory decisions that AI algorithms may recommend, and the accountability and responsibility when an AI system is involved in an undesirable outcome. Also, since many successful AI techniques rely on huge amounts of data, it is important to know how data are handled by AI systems and by those who produce them.
As AI’s capabilities evolve, from machine learning to generative AI to agentic AI, these concerns are evolving as well, and are among the obstacles that hold AI back or that cause worry for current AI users, adopters, and policy makers. Without adequate and convincing answers to these questions, many will not trust AI, and therefore will not fully adopt it nor get its positive impact.
In this talk Dr. Francesca Rossi presented the main issues around AI ethics, showing how they have evolved over time, and some of the proposed technical and non-technical solutions, as well as practical actions and regulations being defined for AI development, deployment, and use. Dr Rossi described how IBM has been addressing these issues with a company-wide multi-stakeholder and risk-based approach.
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