Human Centric AI – The ethics team at DFKI

The increasing performance of AI systems and especially their actual use in the everyday lives of many people has made the ethical consideration of AI systems a socially relevant topic, which is now also perceived and discussed by the general public.

DFKI systematically includes ethical issues in its research activities. The extent to which ethical issues can and must be taken into account in a project’s context depends very much on the respective project’s focus. In the projects, DFKI also regularly collaborates with external experts in the respective field of ethics, complemented when needed for example by legal or psychological expertise.

With the guiding principle “Human centric AI”, the DFKI would like to emphasize, among other things, that research here should always serve the good of people. This also includes considering the use of AI systems from an ethical point of view.

At DFKI, there is an appointed ethics team that can serve as a first point of contact for employees in all ethics-related questions, whether related to a specific project or generally concerning the work at DFKI. The ethics team has developed a handout that should serve as a first orientation. It can be found here.