The Hazards of Putting Ethics on Autopilot

The generative AI boom is unleashing its minions. Enterprise software vendors have rolled out legions of automated assistants that use large language model (LLM) technology, such as ChatGPT, to offer users helpful suggestions or to execute simple tasks. These so-called copilots and chatbots can increase productivity and automate tedious manual work. In this article, we explain how that leads to the risk that their ethical competence may degrade over time — and what to do about it.

FRITHO-11

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Ryan Watkins, Ph.D.
▲ Interim, Associate Dean of Research, Graduate School of Education and Human Development

▲ Professor, George Washington University

Program Faculty: Educational Technology Leadership MA Program

Faculty Lead: Human-Technology Collaboration (HTC) PhD Program | HTC Research Lab

▲ Websites:

www.RyanRWatkins.com (resume, books, articles, etc.)

www.LLMinScience.com (hub for using LLMs in research)

SciencePods (create a podcast about your research)

go.gwu.edu/CodingProjects (coding projects by discipline)

www.WeShareScience.com (an online video science fair)

go.gwu.edu/GWcoders (weekly meet up for connecting with others who code)
www.NeedsAssessment.org (all things needs assessment)

Your workday may not be the same as my workday, so please respond during your workday.

About
Latest Posts

Ryan Watkins

Professor at George Washington University

I am a Professor with Human-Technology Collaboration and Educational Technology programs at George Washington University in Washington DC. I have written 12 books and more than 100 articles, and I co-host of the Parsing Science podcast where scientists tell the stories behind their research. I am also the developer of the WeShareScience.com online platform for sharing research videos, and SciencePods.com where researchers can create free podcasts about their science. My research interests include human interactions with intelligent machines, needs, needs assessments, and instructional design.