mission statement and ethics



Anything that is of use can also be abused. This is especially true with new and upcoming technologies - but in the field of AI, there is further, special need for careful deliberation on how to employ a technology and to what end, as a powerful AI may have implications that touch the very essence of our values as well as our self-image as humans: they have the potential to shake up the core of what our understanding is what it means to be human.

No individual can carry the burden of a responsibility of this magnitude alone. Thus, we intend to do surveys among our user base on how to best use our technology. Furthermore, we will hold democratic votings among all people who wish to participate, and take the results of the votes to be binding in regard to how our technology will be used, in which directions it shall advance, and/or to which tasks and purposes it will extend to in the future. A democratic setting will be the central element of all ethical and strategic/business considerations; it will be both guidance and command.

In essence, we are putting up two safeguards - two firewalls - against unwanted, undesirable, or nefarious use of our technology: One, we will hold democratic votings amongst our user base. Two, we have already set up an ethics committee, which will revise and approve/decline any and all implementations of the technology.

mission statement

  • Limits: askabl's technology will be used exclusively for tasks and purposes that best serve the needs and wishes of our users.
  • Listening to the user base: this means taking seriously the thoughts and ideas that are communicated. This will especially hold true in regard to possible ethical implications of a specific use case (which we might not yet be aware of at the corresponding time in the future).
  • Prevention: never use or let the technology be used in a way that may result in any sort of harm to an individual, or a group of human beings. This statement may seem naive at first glance: any search engine can be used to do harm. However, that does not mean, measures to prevent potential damage as much as possible shouldn't be implemented.

    • ethics committee

    As a firewall against bad decisions, we have set up an ethics committee, which will have the duty of revising all developments and decisions, and have the power to restrict plans for the future, or undo steps previously taken in putting our technology into practice.

    social and ecological policies

    We are currently in the process of forming concrete guidelines according to goals stated above, that is, to aim to ensure that the buiness side of the project adheres to high structural, environmental and social standards. That includes policies like:

  • Democratic structuring of the company, especially regarding decision making at every level.
  • Exclusively licensing our technology to businesses that meet a set of criteria, ranging from ecological requirements to ethical standards.
  • Choosing hosting and server companies which are 100% green energy based, for our front- and backend computing needs.
  • Continually striving to improve, like constantly revising our policies according to up-to-date scientific findings in structural, social and ecoological regards.
  • Creating a CEO position - a Chief Environmental Officer ...

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