9 March 2018

The rise of artificial intelligence is raising questions at the ethics watchdog for the world’s biggest wealth fund. In particular, the threat posed by weapons systems guided by AI brings ethical “challenges,” according to Johan H. Andresen, the chairman of the Norwegian Council on Ethics...

"It’s hard to program empathy — we can’t demand that — but everything we’re looking at is under human control and humans are making the decisions, so both people and companies can be held responsible." ...

The group is now considering taking action on the issue of labor conditions for migrant workers ahead of the soccer world cup in Qatar in 2022, with recruitment practices also in breach of the human rights guidelines...

Going forward, the council will ramp up its investigations on the effects of deforestation and infrastructure development on the environment or violates human and indigenous rights, he said. “The oil fund is now taking a more active ownership approach — they’re committed to doing this and they have the resources,” Andresen said.