Artificial Intelligence, ethics and privacy

Mechatronics-based technologies are associated with the collection of large volumes of data associated with both systems operation and the users of those systems. This data has the potential to form a major resource in respect of applications ranging from healthcare to energy systems, transport and manufacturing. However, the analysis and interpretation of the data, particularly when associated with the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), presents many challenges in relation to individual privacy, as well as wider ethical issues associated both with the individual and with the ability of such systems to autonomously make decisions which can impact on the wellbeing of both individuals and larger groups. The chapter, therefore, sets out not to provide specific answers or solutions to the many and various issues associated with the deployment of AI and Big Data analytics, but to help systems designers in identifying those questions that need to be asked. For this reason, the chapter includes a wide-ranging, but by no means all-inclusive or fully comprehensive, bibliography as well as more conventional references as a means of directing and aiding systems designers in identifying problem-specific solutions.