Brave: what it means to be an AI Ethicist

Abstract

Despite there being a strong call for responsible technology, the path towards putting ethics into action is still yet to be fully understood. To help guide the implementation of ethics, we have seen the rise of a new professional title; the AI Ethicist. However, it is still unclear what the role and skill set of this new profession must include. The purpose of this piece is to offer a preliminary definition of what it means to be an AI Ethicist by first examining the concept of an ethicist in the context of artificial intelligence, followed by exploring what responsibilities are added to the role in industry specifically, and ending on the fundamental characteristic that underlies it all: bravery.