Ethics, Libraries, and Artificial Intelligence

As Harvard learned in a recent case involving the early photographs of enslaved people, the status quo of addressing legal risk is insufficient in a reality where public pressure, social media, and legal action can compel the institution to conform with ethical actions even while traditional copyright law is silent. 

Ethical artificial intelligence requires the “human in the loop”; we must use empathy and center communities.

Without it, there are three worst-case scenarios that could easily take place: the history and achievements of Black and Indigenous Americans stand to be entirely left out, misrepresented, or – most egregiously – provide profit that does not flow to the communities themselves.