Ethical Machines: Your Concise Guide to Totally Unbiased, Transparent, and Respectful AI

This book is not an "If your model does x, test for y. Now your model is ethical." type of book.The value of this book is instead in how it deconstructs what it means to be ethical in the context of machine learning, why it's important to be so, and how to put structures in place to catch and neutralize as much ethical risk as possible. And, perhaps more importantly, it's super accessible to people without a background in computer science. There is no code in this book, and little to no prerequisite knowledge required (you should probably know that AI exists, but that's about it).The author is refreshingly realistic about things like privacy and the realities of measuring bias, but he is perhaps most skilled in constructing frameworks in which you can find yourself (or your organization) and understand the next steps to take to improve.I work in tech, but I've been recommending this book to all of my non-technical friends and coworkers too. It's a great read if you work in and around AI/ML in any capacity, or if you're interested in ethics and are looking to get a better grasp on all of this nebulous technology.

I have no patience for philosophy and ethics books. Unless they throw in a torrid sex scene every four to six pages my eyes glaze over and simply go through the motions of moving from left the right until I need my next social media fix. But Reid Blackman has accomplished something remarkable. He has written an applied ethics book that is a fun fast read. He lays out how you construct an ethics overlay to your entire organization. How the ethics overlay runs. How it tackles new issues as they arise. He explains how you separate Structure – what to do and how to do it – from Content – the bottomless list of ethical risks and how they arise. He discusses how you can treat ethics like Case Law. How you set precedent and either build on it or evolve it in a structured and explainable way. Most importantly, he does it effectively in 190 pages. I finished reading this book. Every page. If you care about understanding the emerging ethical landscape of AI, I recommend reading this book.

This book was thought provoking, and it was interesting to read about this topic from a philosopher. I took issue with a couple of the statements (mainly the repeated assertion that technical folks and engineers, etc., "don't understand ethics" so you need managers and lawyers to do that... couldn't disagree more, but i don't think that's a deal breaker for this book), and the abbreviation of "algorithm" to just "algo" (anyone actually say "algo"?) lost points just as a personal pet peeve. I did like the book overall, though, and I'm glad I read it.

I recently read "Ethical Machines" by Reid Blackman and was thoroughly impressed by the thought-provoking ideas presented in the book. So much so that after I listened to it on Audible I also got the Kindle version.Blackman does an excellent job of exploring the ethical implications of artificial intelligence and the role it will play in our society in the future. He offers a balanced perspective, considering both the potential benefits and drawbacks of AI, and provides well-reasoned arguments for his points.One of the things I appreciated most about the book was Blackman's practical framework of approaching AI Ethics at an organisational level. Overall, I would highly recommend "Ethical Machines" to anyone that's serious about building an AI Ethics program, committee or group at the company level (startup or corporate). I can guarantee that in the process you'll be exploring Ethical Machines again and again because this topics has the tendency of sparking interesting conversations at any level in the company, especially among executives - which of course Reid has the right answers for.

What do you get if you give a PhD the ability to cut through the weeds of rhetoric and speak honestly and in understandable terms about the complex topic of ethics and artificial intelligence? You get Reid Blackman (and thank goodness 🙏🏼).This book is well written, informative, calls leaders to action in implementing ethics programs, and provides actionable frameworks for doing so. I have already purchased copies for my colleagues and highly recommend it to anyone working in AI today and especially anyone who considers themselves a leader in the field.

There's a lot of books that discuss the ethical issues raised by AI systems; seldom do those books go into how to actually make AI better, and if they do, it's usually a few paragraphs in passing. This is a whole book filled with step-by-step guidelines for addressing those ethical wrongs that AI can commit. Written to be accessible and insightful regardless of technical or ethical background, I think this is necessary reading for anyone who is thinking of implementing some kind of responsible AI structures in their organization.

I was expecting more substantial discussion from a former philosopher. To be sure, it reads easily. It is very good at emphasizing the obvious but breaks little new ground. Ethics is a sub-discipline of philosophy, but the book treats AI ethics as a business problem with a sophomoric dusting of philosophy and computer science. AI ethics is far more interesting and much more difficult to address than this simple volume assumes. Oversized font, wide line spacing, not memorable. Save your money.

I enjoyed the actionable steps and case examples provided in this book. As a person working with data and AI everyday I think others in similar roles would benefit greatly in their careers by reading this book.