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The Axial Age saw the independent rise of multiple societies, each with their own set of religious and cultural practices. The silk road arguably marked the end of the Axial Age, connecting these previously isolated cultures together in a network that traded not only goods and germs, but also ideas. And the door was forever opened to the challenges of multicultural exchanges. It’s obvious that the digital age has done something similar—connecting the world’s societies in unprecedented ways. It’s enhanced our ability to exchange goods and ideas too. And we’ve felt the excitement as well as the growing pains along the way. For several years now, artificial intelligence has promised us new possibilities—a lighter burden with greater resource efficiency. But this is against the backdrop of an internet that has turned out to be a tool of social interaction. Computers are of course computing, crunching numbers and executing tasks humans aren’t so good at. But it turns out that these computations are meant to enable our sociality. Computers don’t just crunch numbers, they crunch numbers to figure out who to connect with whom, what prices to set on goods, how to get people from point A to point B, which crowd-sourced entries are true or false. It is inevitable that in mediating social processes, AI must make ethical judgment calls. And it is also clear that AI simply reflects the values inherent in its datasets and imbued by its programmer. We now layer on top of this that only a very small fraction of the population today will program AI, that only a very small fraction of those algorithms will wind up being used in production, and that only a very small number of those will be used in the tech monopolies which serve the vast majority of the population around the globe. This means that the values of a particular subset of people will be making ethical judgment calls for others who may not share those ethical principles. Do we care that Silicon Valley, arguably one of the most liberal places in the most liberal countries in the world, and Chinese giants, like WeChat and TaoBao will be systematically arbitrating the world’s values? How do we begin to deal with these digital multicultural exchanges? Anthropologists have had to create their own frameworks for understanding and evaluating cultural differences. They provide helpful tools for beginning to think about these tough questions. First, we must begin with trying to understand how we make sense of other cultures. We can all recognize that we are biased observers, we have been raised in a culture which evaluates other cultures through the lens of our own. At least for those of us in the West, anthropologists have identified at least three main ways to compare cultures and their values: universalism, evolutionism, and relativism. Each have their strengths and weaknesses. Richard Shweder and Edmund Osgood Universalism Universalism is a mode of thought which makes sense of cultures by finding and highlighting similarities. This is naturally attractive, because if we can find common ground, perhaps our cross-cultural difficulties will evaporate. We can create AI that will operate based off of universally agreed-upon principles. The difficulty with this approach, however, is that identifying universals involves looking at higher-order similarities, and discarding evidence which indicates that cultures are meaningfully different. For instance, psychologists have noted that fairness and justice are values in every society. That may be so, but psychologists mean this rather abstractly. Justice does not play itself out in the same ways in every culture, and so the very concept of justice comes to be vacuous in a universalist respect. Americans pride themselves on their pursuit of equality, and may shudder at the concept of a caste system. Yet other cultures may be quick to note that we deny minors the right to vote, and defer many of their medical and social decisions to a designated guardian. Anthropologists note that to other cultures, the difference between castes may seem as obvious to them as the difference between children and adults does to us. Justice may well be in every culture, but the universal concept of justice is so abstract, that it is meaningless until particular cultural practices provide us a working concept of what is meant by justice—a point at which our elusive similarities slip between humanity’s fingers. Even within the same country there is vast disagreement about how to implement moral principles. As I have , algorithmic fairness is troubling partly because common ideas about “fairness” have been proven mathematically incompatible with one another. written before Algorithms which predict recidivism in order to aid in rehabilitative sentencing can either have equal risk score cutoffs across races and genders, or their predictive errors can be equal across races and genders. But both cutoff scores and error rates cannot me made equal simultaneously. Which algorithm is most “just?” Can a universally, ethically-acceptable algorithm exist? It seems dubious, at best. Evolutionism At the realization that universals may rarely be meaningfully implemented, some might be tempted to take an evolutionary stance with regard to understanding cultural ethics. That is, some might be tempted to say that one culture’s values are more “correct” or morally “right” than others, that the favored morals have emerged because the society or culture is more advanced in some way. Certainly, many Silicon Valley companies, whether wittingly or not, take this approach. Hate speech on the basis of sexual orientation, skin color, gender, or religion is identified by these companies as wrong—while the definitions of hate speech and the groups protected from hate speech privilege progressive American values. Sharia law which condemns homosexuality and which promotes violence against homosexual and non-binary individuals clearly operates out of an alternative ethical framework from the liberal individualism expressed in the US. Twitter, Facebook, Google and the like suspend accounts and flag content which promotes these ideologies. They are taking a moral stance, one which suggests that these tech companies believe their moral ideology is superior. As a citizen of the US, I strongly disapprove of Sharia law—but how do I defend that my position is the right one? Likewise, China’s social credit system is heavily criticized in the United States for the presumption that the government’s values are superior in some way. Although we rarely blink at the removal of hate speech online, many of us in the US think that China’s sort of algorithmic moral babysitting is the stuff of dystopic movies. It beckons recollections of atrocities that occurred under authoritarian regimes, like Stalin’s or Hitler’s. I don’t need to spend much time explaining why the evolutionary approach to programming ethics into AI is as appealing as it is problematic. We think some morals are better than others, they just happen to be our morals. Relativism The third main way we tend to make sense of other cultures is to think of them relativistically. That is, to presume that no one culture is better than another—they are simply different but equal. This kind of an approach is attractive to postmodernist mindsets which like to use phrases like “my truth” or “your truth,” as though what is right and good for one person does not hold up universally. Again, this approach is both useful and problematic. It is admirable to be able to recognize the dignity of each culture, and it’s attractive to be able to respect rich histories of ethics and morals of others. It also rescues us from the moral colonialism which is the natural extension of evolutionary approaches to morality. That being said, this position means we also cannot take a hard moral stance—we cannot claim that one culture’s morality is better than another. In terms of our AI, this position is likely to allow cultural norms to dictate which ethics are implemented in a given circumstance. One highlights these differences. driverless car dilemma study In eastern countries, let the self-driving car kill the young just as much as the old, and kill the unlawful while sparing the lawful. In southern countries, let the self-driving car kill the obese and spare the fit, and kill the homeless and spare the wealthy. In the western countries, let the self-driving car stay its course, killing whoever is in the way and sparing whoever is not—unless of course, there are different numbers at stake, in which case kill the few to spare the many. But there is something nauseating about the thought of calling all these ethical algorithms different but equal. Something about their moral implications draws us to claim that we think some of these moral values are better or worse than others. And here we find ourselves at the beginning, hoping to grasp onto some sort of a universal value set. And indeed, sometimes we can find a fruitful point of agreement. Most people value human lives over the lives of dogs and cats. Most people value more lives over fewer lives. And yet, these pieces seem to be a drop of water in the ethical ocean AI is facing We know that the vast majority of algorithms are not universally morally palatable. Additionally, these decisions are happening behind the protection of tech monopolies’ NDAs. We often don’t know the ethical fabric of AI unless someone happens to audit a specific algorithm, an employee whistle-blows, or someone brings a lawsuit for discriminatory treatment. Who’s watching the watchmen? I'm building out the infrastructure of the dWeb with ERA . If you enjoyed this article, I'd love to connect with you on Twitter !

Ethical AI: Who Watches the Watchmen?

The GNU Project's First Milestone

El primer hito del proyecto GNU

La première étape du projet GNU

जीएनयू परियोजना का पहला मील का पत्थर

GNU プロジェクトの最初のマイルストーン

O primeiro marco do Projeto GNU

Cột mốc đầu tiên của Dự án GNU

GNU 项目的第一个里程碑

And that’s a relief! Note: Scroll to the bottom to get a copy of my personal notes and takeaways from SocialBoom! They’re typed just for you :) I just got back from , which turned out to be a pretty dope meetup of some of the best minds across marketing. SocialBoom 2017 The best part was probably going with awesome people from the team :) I had a blast spending it with my talented and passionate friends, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to have joined you! Symphony Check ’em out, they don’t bite: https://symphonyagency.com/ Although SocialBoom was billed as being a social media conference, I think that did a great job packing it full of insightful speakers. Kim Garst cross-disciplinary Instead of just being back to back social tactics, SocialBoom left me with plenty of insight for life, business — and yes, marketing. For example, Kim is a pretty dyed in the wool social specialist and most of her value was dropping some tactical knowledge about the newer features of Facebook, Instagram, and livestreaming as a whole. But Kim mixed it up by also bringing in cool and oriented speakers — like . Nicole is a fabulous, badass income strategist who dropped a of knowledge about business development, and email marketing during her time on stage. business development conversion Nicole Walters TON By hearing the “coming up story” of a of people in different industries like and on and on it opened my eyes to something incredibly important. variety coaching, tech, speaking, consulting, Something even more important than the individual tactics, I think. Not everyone is a speaker, author, web developer, accountant, lawyer, or EVERYTHING. Nobody does it alone. So I definitely enjoyed my time at SocialBoom and got a ton of value from it. With that being said… All of us are marketers, and There were definitely a few straight up sales presentations there. we KNOW when we’re being sold… I don’t mean the speaker promoted an offer at the end of a speech you took several pages of notes on — that’s fair enough. I mean you’re sitting through a 1 hour sales presentation that goes over time… But is a learning opportunity. I was able to get something very valuable from this (HARD) sales pitch. even this The presentation was by a foreign-based (American owned) outsourcing operation, kind of like the The firm that presented at SB17 pairs business owners up with virtual assistants who are based in the Philippines. one Chris Ducker has. The extent of the “tactics” was essentially … “Here are all the things we’ll do for you when you’re a customer” was when the speaker pulled up his HR manager on Skype, and basically did a live demo of their product. But the cool part As much as I didn’t enjoy being “sold”, seeing the humans on the other side and hearing their story was pretty neat. And it taught me an important lesson: Nobody does it alone. Sometimes the person probably run their entire business by themselves. even if it seems like this is a one man show from the outside, does not Some types of help are more visible than others, and sometimes you might be comparing where you “should be” (on your own) to some“one” who is further ahead of you — but they may not have help. visible Understanding the different types of help that entrepreneurs get is incredibly important. Having “a team” a fancy office with employees. doesn’t always look like It’s important, so that you can set realistic expectations for yourself. Mainly so you can take the pressure off. It’s helpful to look to other business figures for ideas, but a lot of the time this “viewing” can turn into pressure that you’re putting on yourself. “Why aren’t I there yet? She has a 6 figure business, shouldn’t I too by now?” Understand that you’re probably not seeing but if you’re comparing yourself to them in an “apples to apples” way you can develop their whole picture, still stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout. “If you want this, you need to understand that there’s a LOT of stuff that people are not talking about. Nobody in my tech/startup world is talking about the suicides when kids fail. This is happening every day.” — Gary Vaynerchuk _This keynote I gave at CUNY City College this past week was one for the books. I absolutely loved talking to these kids…_pca.st A Keynote: CUNY City College - The GaryVee Audio Experience Mental health is discussed enough in the business space. not “The Media” loves to run story after story on the winners, but the winners are just the tip of the iceberg. What gets forgotten, or never printed, are the losses we’ve had to suicide. Even when from mental health distress, it’s hardly covered — and overtaken by the avalanche of IPOs and funding rounds of the next day. literal famous people take their own lives quickly _Computer activist Aaron H. Swartz committed suicide in New York City yesterday, Jan. 11, according to his uncle…_tech.mit.edu Aaron Swartz commits suicide - The Tech Second lesson that goes hand in hand with this, Nicole Walters reminded me that everyone is a human. Maybe you have a hardcore business crush on someone (or a few people 😅). Sometimes when your brain is doing that it can at the same time though — the distance between you and them. freak you out a little bit I definitely get it. By remembering that everyone, no matter how awesome they seem, is a human you can steer yourself through the moments when you don’t feel good enough. Remember that no single person possess the skills, and time to execute every business task perfectly. Business owners use tools like virtual assistants, employees, interns, Fiverr, professional services (like marketing agencies), and freelancers to and focus on doing what they do best. delegate their weaknesses, During a panel discussion, Nicole mentioned that there is a misconception about revenue. When you hear that someone makes 7 figures like Nicole, maybe you think that she has ONE million dollar stream of revenue. That’s how it can look from the outside anyway. But it’s mostly a myth. Does Nicole really get a million dollars from one source of revenue? NO! Her 7 figure business is a combo of her speaking, her products, her inner circle, her affiliate business — together to make her whole 7 figure business. all of these come I know that that revenue streams need to be 6 figures to add up to 7 figures. And maybe you’re freaking out right now. Like “Hey whoa Jamie you lost me, I’m definitely never going to be in a place where that’s relevant to me — flattering you think I’ll have a 7 figure business though, but uh…” Nicole’s example numbers might freak you out, boss but that’s not the point. You can look at building your personal income in the same way to set realistic expectations. Maybe one day you hope to earn $X00,000’s instead. It works the same way. Building ONE $100,000+ revenue stream can feel pretty scary. Maybe it even seems impossible. Instead, you can put together a mix of revenue streams that total your goal revenue. Gary Vaynerchuk did the math in Crush It and Thank You Economy: is big enough to build a hustle of $10,000-$50,000/year with dedicated work. basically every niche Even if your passion is something very obscure, with a small community like chicken farming. ( ) Yes, it’s been done. _Henny & Roo is the first and only subscription box for backyard chicken keepers. Each month, you'll receive treats…_hennyandroo.cratejoy.com Henny & Roo Home Instead of thinking to yourself “WOW Nicole has this 7 figure business, and I’ve got to grow to her level in the first year or two??”, doesn’t this seem like a much more reasonable approach? Figure out where you want to be at the top of your career. Work backwards. Try creating new revenue streams. If it seems like the revenue stream will be small, you’re working on it for 3 months and it’s not made $10,000 — understand that maybe that isn’t the strongest pain point for your market. Keep exploring, when you identify the revenue stream won’t grow to a size you need — attempt a new variation or idea. If you go into creating products to serve, and to give back value — the rest is trial and error, and learning how to identify the losers and move on from them. If you’re working on it for a year and it doesn’t make $10,000 it’s definitely a loser. Otherwise, what constitutes a winner and a loser will depend on your goals. If you want to make $100,000, you’re looking for 2, 3 or 4 sources of income that total around $25,000-$50,000. How can you give to people in 3 or 4 ways? a part time job’s worth of value Maybe you’ll get lucky, or you have an audience whose pains you know well and your first try will get that revenue stream to $20k by June. If that’s the case, you can estimate it will be a $40ker. You’re most of the way there, you also have a profitable market you can probably assist further. Look, even Kim Garst started off making — just enough extra cash to cover her car payment. only a few hundred bucks per month It’s taken her 5 years at least to build Boom! Social to where it is now. It’s so important to NOT freak out, and to set realistic expectations because the truth is that a fully functioning million dollar business definitely does not pop out magically overnight. You’ve gotta be in it for the longggggg haul, baby! but I wanted to hit on it again. It’s important to keep your focus on because business people are burnt out, stressed, and suffering high rates of depression — We’ve talked about mental health and business before, so and we’re just not talking about it. If you feel like this is you, know that you’re normal. please The worst part about the silence, is that you feel like a weirdo — and you absolutely shouldn’t. If you’re struggling with burnout and depression please know that we take you seriously. No one will think you’re weak for reaching out. I encourage you to grab a trusted mentor, friend, stranger, your mom, your dog, your girlfriend — even a therapist if you don’t feel close to anyone but I implore you to please talk to someone about how you’re feeling. Especially if you’ve thought of taking your own life. The first step to feeling better is going to be to not bottle it up. Keep in mind that when you feel really lousy, you might feel like you want to “pull away” from people. Going out to dinner, or having a chat with your friend isn’t relaxing anymore — it’s stressful. If you’re feeling like this, you should know that the times you want to pull away are often when you need to move towards someone the most. What you’re feeling is normal. It’s scary. But nobody does it by themselves. You’re only human. I’d like to leave you with this final thought on “invisible help” from a recent : #AskPat episode “Reinvesting in my business, I’ve found to be really important lately. I used to try and see how little I could spend on my business to keep it growing, but I realize as I’ve shifted from scrappy entrepreneur to now CEO of my company, I’ve found that when you invest in the right things in your business — THAT can help you exponentially grow. I’ve been able to invest a lot of my profits from my business back into my business in several different ways like hiring a team (to) edit my podcasts, show notes, publish on Wordpress. All of those things I did myself, and now I have other people do them for me so I can focus more on the bigger level things, and the things only I can do.” — Pat Flynn _Today's question comes from Jackie who wants some advice on reinvesting her profits in her business. Find Jackie's…_pca.st AP 0873: What Do You Do with Your Profits? Reinvest in Your Business? SEO? Hiring? - AskPat: Your… Click here to get my notes from SocialBoom :) If you enjoyed reading, please spread the word by hitting the ❤ button! Please share on Facebook, or Twitter if you find the article valuable :) ^ Add your email to this form if you want actionable business and marketing content emailed to you weekly :)

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