As Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies rapidly progress, questions about the ethics of AI, in both the near-future and the long-term, become more pressing than ever. This volume features seventeen original essays by prominent AI scientists and philosophers and represents the state-of-the-art thinking in this fast-growing field. Organized into four sections, this volume explores the issues surrounding how to build ethics into machines; ethical issues in specific technologies, including self-driving cars, autonomous weapon systems, surveillance algorithms, and sex robots; the long term risks of superintelligence; and whether AI systems can be conscious or have rights. Though the use and practical applications of AI are growing exponentially, discussion of its ethical implications is still in its infancy. This volume provides an invaluable resource for thinking through the ethical issues surrounding AI today and for shaping the study and development of AI in the coming years.

Mission in the world of work has been neglected by the churches within the UK for decades. The Kingdom at Work Project addresses this crippling failure. It sets out a new and comprehensive model of mission for the transformation of the workplace. The model is founded on a radical theology of community and related spirituality which guide and empower an innovative process of discernment and intervention. The last covers individual and collective action, dialogue, the use of symbols, prayer and worship. Mentoring, the role of chaplains and ministers in secular employment, and the responsibilities of the gathered church are key issues covered in depth. This book is the most thorough and imaginative exploration of mission in the world of work to appear for many years.

When is a gift not a gift? When it's a bribe. For many, corporate hospitality oils the wheels of commerce. But where do you draw the line? Bribes, incentives and inducements are not just a matter of used banknotes stuffed in brown envelopes. Expenses, corporate settlement of personal bills, gifts and hospitality can all be used to influence business partners, clients and contractors. Can you afford unlimited fines? Under the Bribery Act 2010, a maximum of ten years' imprisonment and an unlimited fine may be imposed for offering, promising, giving, requesting, agreeing, receiving or accepting bribes. With such strict penalties, it's astonishing that so few companies have few or no measures in place to ensure that they are not liable for prosecution. This is especially astonishing as the Ministry of Justice's Quick start guide to the Bribery Act makes it clear that "There is a full defence if you can show you had adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery." Such procedures can be found in BS 10500:2010, the British Standard for anti-bribery management systems (ABMSs). How to implement an ABMS An Introduction to Anti-Bribery Management Systems (BS 10500) explains how to implement an ABMS that meets the requirements of BS 10500, from initial gap analysis to due diligence management: * An introduction to BS 10500 * An explanation of an ABMS * Management processes within an ABMS * Implementing an ABMS * Risk assessment in due diligence * Whistleblowing and bribery investigations * Internal auditing and corrective action * Certification to BS 10500 It provides helpful guidance on the importance of clearly defining policies; logging gifts and hospitality in auditable records; ensuring a consistent approach across the organisation; controls for contractors; facilitation payments; charitable and political donations; risk assessment in due diligence; whistle-blowing and bribery investigations; and internal auditing and corrective action. Meet the stringent requirements of the Bribery Act Not only will a BS 10500-compliant ABMS help your organisation prove its probity by meeting the stringent requirements of the Bribery Act, it can also be adapted to most legal or compliance systems. An ethical approach to business is not just a legal obligation but a way to protect your reputation. About the author Alan Field, MA, LL.B (Hons), PgC, MCQI CQP, MIIRSM, AIEMA, GIFireE, GradIOSH is a Chartered Quality Professional, an IRCA Registered Lead Auditor and member of the Society of Authors. Alan has particular expertise in auditing and assessing anti-bribery management systems to BS 10500 and public-sector counter-fraud systems to ISO9001. Alan has many years' experience with quality and integrated management systems in the legal, financial, property services and project management sectors in auditing, assessment and gap analysis roles. Your company's integrity is important. An Introduction to Anti-Bribery Management Systems (BS 10500) shows you how to maintain and prove it.

Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us-and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not, in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and potentially existential risks emerge. Researchers call this the alignment problem. Systems cull resumes until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole-and appear to assess Black and White defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And as autonomous vehicles share our streets, we are increasingly putting our lives in their hands. The mathematical and computational models driving these changes range in complexity from something that can fit on a spreadsheet to a complex system that might credibly be called "artificial intelligence." They are steadily replacing both human judgment and explicitly programmed software. In best-selling author Brian Christian's riveting account, we meet the alignment problem's "first-responders," and learn their ambitious plan to solve it before our hands are completely off the wheel. In a masterful blend of history and on-the ground reporting, Christian traces the explosive growth in the field of machine learning and surveys its current, sprawling frontier. Readers encounter a discipline finding its legs amid exhilarating and sometimes terrifying progress. Whether they-and we-succeed or fail in solving the alignment problem will be a defining human story. The Alignment Problem offers an unflinching reckoning with humanity's biases and blind spots, our own unstated assumptions and often contradictory goals. A dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, it takes a hard look not only at our technology but at our culture-and finds a story by turns harrowing and hopeful.

Climate change and the depletion of resources will have a long-lasting effect on the globe. Thus, it is essential that businesses and organizations across the world adopt financial practices and strategies that allow them to continue their service, limit emissions, and preserve resources. However, these practices are only made more difficult to adopt within the context of a turbulent economy. In this context, it is imperative to research financial strategies to protect the environment and support business resilience. Finance for Sustainability in a Turbulent Economy provides international financial strategies to achieve sustainable business practices within a turbulent economy. It highlights the importance of maintaining environmental health in a cost-effective way. Covering topics such as environmental finance, renewable energy frameworks, and social responsibility, this premier reference source is an essential resource for environmental scientists, government officials, engineers, business executives, environmentalists, politicians, students and educators of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

Undeniably, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not new, but there is a huge difference between understanding the concept of CSR in developed and developing nations. In developing countries, firms have little interest in adopting CSR as a strategy in their business goals. The best practices, techniques, and empirical studies conducted around the globe must be discussed in detail in order to encourage the incorporation of the best CSR strategies for regionally diverse businesses. Global Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives for Reluctant Businesses is a critical reference source that covers the scope of global corporate social responsibility, which has continued to increase in the last couple of decades. The book includes core aspects of corporate social responsibility philosophy and practices in different European, North American, and Asian countries. This authored book helps readers to understand the corporate social responsibility practices in different countries and also provides a holistic picture of global CSR and emerging trends with the support of empirical studies. Covering topics including internationalization, Islamic CSR, green public procurement, CSR strategy, and sustainability, this book is essential for managers, executives, human resources managers, policymakers, academicians, researchers, students, and practitioners.

Procurement with Purpose describes a growing and powerful movement - how organisations can use the money they spend with suppliers to help address wider environmental, social and economic issues. That is not just about emissions and climate change, but includes how to address issues such as biodiversity and habitat loss, plastics and waste, modern slavery, inequality and discrimination, and more. That organisational 'buying power' is now being used to drive change across the business and political world. With case studies from leading organisations, insightful analysis of 'business purpose' concepts and practical guidance on implementing these ideas through the procurement and contracting cycle, Procurement with Purpose is a fascinating and valuable resource for anyone interested in how organisations can help protect and nurture this planet and its people.

Machines and computers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and self-sustaining. As we integrate such technologies into our daily lives, questions concerning moral integrity and best practices arise. A changing world requires renegotiating our current set of standards. Without best practices to guide interaction and use with these complex machines, interaction with them will turn disastrous. Machine Law, Ethics, and Morality in the Age of Artificial Intelligence is a collection of innovative research that presents holistic and transdisciplinary approaches to the field of machine ethics and morality and offers up-to-date and state-of-the-art perspectives on the advancement of definitions, terms, policies, philosophies, and relevant determinants related to human-machine ethics. The book encompasses theory and practice sections for each topical component of important areas of human-machine ethics both in existence today and prospective for the future. While highlighting a broad range of topics including facial recognition, health and medicine, and privacy and security, this book is ideally designed for ethicists, philosophers, scientists, lawyers, politicians, government lawmakers, researchers, academicians, and students. It is of special interest to decision- and policy-makers concerned with the identification and adoption of human-machine ethics initiatives, leading to needed policy adoption and reform for human-machine entities, their technologies, and their societal and legal obligations.

In Power and Regionalism in Latin America: The Politics of MERCOSUR, Laura Gomez-Mera examines the erratic patterns of regional economic cooperation in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), a political-economic agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and, recently, Venezuela that comprises the world's fourth-largest regional trade bloc. Despite a promising start in the early 1990s, MERCOSUR has had a tumultuous and conflict-ridden history. Yet it has survived, expanding in membership and institutional scope. What explains its survival, given a seemingly contradictory mix of conflict and cooperation? Through detailed empirical analyses of several key trade disputes between the bloc's two main partners, Argentina and Brazil, Gomez-Mera proposes an explanation that emphasizes the tension between and interplay of two sets of factors: power asymmetries within and beyond the region, and domestic-level politics. Member states share a common interest in preserving MERCOSUR as a vehicle for increasing the region's leverage in external negotiations. Gomez-Mera argues that while external vulnerability and overlapping power asymmetries have provided strong and consistent incentives for regional cooperation in the Southern Cone, the impact of these systemic forces on regional outcomes also has been crucially mediated by domestic political dynamics in the bloc's two main partners, Argentina and Brazil. Contrary to conventional wisdom, however, the unequal distribution of power within the bloc has had a positive effect on the sustainability of cooperation. Despite Brazil's reluctance to adopt a more active leadership role in the process of integration, its offensive strategic interests in the region have contributed to the durability of institutionalized collaboration. However, as Gomez-Mera demonstrates, the tension between Brazil's global and regional power aspirations has also added significantly to the bloc's ineffectiveness.

The public space of democracies is constructed in a context that is marked by the digital transformation of the economy and society. This construction is carried out primarily through deliberation. Deliberation informs and guides both individual and collective action. To shed light on the concept of deliberation, it is important to consider the rationality of choice; but what type of rationality is this? References to economic reason are at once widespread, crucial and controversial. This book therefore deals with arguments used by individuals based on the notions of preferential choice and rational behavior, and also criticizes them. These arguments are examined in the context of the major themes of public debate that help to construct the contemporary public space: "populism", social insurance, social responsibility and environmental issues. Economic Reason and Political Reason underlines the importance of the pragmatist shift of the 2000s and revisits, through the lens of this new approach, the great utilitarian and Rawlsian normative constructs that dominated normative political economics at the end of the 20th century. Alternative approaches, based on the concept of deliberative democracy, are proposed and discussed.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a profound impact on the global business community. Amidst the ongoing crisis, countries around the world are opening up again to a business world in which both consumer behaviors and company practices have started to change. Numerous companies are using corporate social responsibility to demonstrate their commitment to fighting against COVID-19 and alleviating the negative consequences of the pandemic for their stakeholders; due to this, corporate social responsibility is expected to become a core issue for managers and researchers in the post-pandemic era. Future Advancements for CSR and the Sustainable Development Goals in a Post-COVID-19 World discusses the challenges and opportunities of corporate social responsibility and studies the reactions to the COVID-19 global pandemic that may lead to changes in corporate social responsibility, corporate approaches to sustainable development goals, and stakeholders' reactions to the post-COVID-19 era. This book addresses the opportunities for businesses to shift towards more genuine and authentic corporate social responsibility that contributes to addressing urgent social and environmental challenges. Covering topics from social entrepreneurship typologies to sustainability leaders, this book is ideal for managers, executives, entrepreneurs, business professionals and practitioners, policymakers, academicians, researchers, and students.

The research surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) is vast and quite diverse in both its applied and theoretical fields. AI tools and techniques, such as machine learning, data mining, neural networks, and advanced analytics, are evolving at a high speed, creating a consistent need for updated research. This is especially relevant with frequent developments for the application of AI technology in many science and industry sectors. This rapid expansion created a need for research that focuses on the questions surrounding the development of AI such as ethical issues, responsible AI methods and applications, and its widespread implementation. Within the answers to these questions is the prevailing notion that AI should be accountable, explainable, transparent, and fair for all organizations and individuals. Responsible AI and Ethical Issues for Businesses and Governments widens the understanding of AI outside of the "narrow" technical perspective to a broader viewpoint that embraces the links between AI theory, practice, and policy. The chapters in this book discuss the basic philosophical and conceptual foundations of AI and explores the responsible application of AI tools and methods, the moral aspects of AI, practical issues, and responsible AI implementation across a range of industries. While highlighting topics that include digital transformation, ethical competence, information literacy in AI, and the interaction between AI and humans, this book is ideally designed for IT specialists, technology developers, technologists, ethicists, practitioners, stakeholders, academicians, students, and researchers who are interested in learning more about the ethical and responsible use of AI.

This book deals with the development of key traditions of practical wisdom, particularly in Aristotelian virtue ethics, but also extending to other traditions such as Confucianism and Islam. It includes historical perspectives in philosophy, and offers views on the core concept of phronesis or practical wisdom and associated themes such as the idea of ‘good’ in good judgment, decision making in particular contexts, uncertainty, the acquisition of wisdom, and deliberation. It also includes an exploration of more contentious themes, such as reciprocity in the virtues, techne vs praxis, and standards.