08 March 2023
Garate Room
The Centre for Applied Ethics and Deusto Business School held the 6th Ethics Conference on 8 March, in collaboration with the BBK Foundation. Under the title "New ethical challenges for businesses in the use of Artificial Intelligence systems", the aim was to contribute to a better understanding and tackling of issues such as algorithmic discrimination or the protection of digital rights. This is a skill that is increasingly necessary for responsible professional practice, especially at managerial levels.
The openeing ceremony was attended by Agustín Garmendia, president of Deusto Business Alumni, and Gorka Martínez, director general of the BBK Foundation, who spoke about how AI is increasingly influencing new areas of economic activity, as well as the importance of privacy and data security. Next, Javier Arellano, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, defined artificial intelligence as the replication of some elements of the human mentality, such as learning, reasoning and interaction. In this regard, he pointed out that it leaves other aspects aside and does not include the moral element.
This was followed by a debate, moderated by Peru Sasia, Head of Knowledge Transfer at the Centre for Applied Ethics, with the participation of Ana Isabel Herrán, Vice-Dean for Students, Research and Transfer at Deusto Law School and Lecturer in Civil Law, and Javier Camacho, Lecturer and Researcher at Advantere and ICADE and an expert in Business Ethics and Artificial Intelligence.
Javier Camacho talked about the difficult challenges the company faces in bringing AI to day-to-day life. In turn, Ana Isabel Herrán commented that companies do not want to be left behind and yet the regulations on the issue are at a minimum, with the risks that this entails for the data of individuals and companies. Professor Herrán reported on the various ethics charters that organisations have been writing, but which "have not been legally grounded yet". In their opinion, an inclusive bias should be promoted, with benefits for all the disadvantaged.
