Machine ethics
In 2004 and 2005, Wallach taught undergraduate seminars at Yale University about robot ethics, and in 2005 he became chair of the Technology and Ethics Study Group at Yale University ISPS Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. [16] In 2009, Wallach published Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right From Wrong (co-authored with Colin Allen, Indiana University), which discusses issues in AI ethics and machine morality. [17] The abstract for the book describes it as the "first book to examine the challenge of building artificial moral agents." [17] In 2015 Wallach became a senior advisor on synthetic biology to The Hastings Center, [18] which is an "independent, nonpartisan, interdisciplinary research institute" focused on "social and ethical issues in health care, science, and technology." [19] Wallach received the World Technology Network award for ethics in 2014. [20] He also won the World Technology Network award for media and journalism in 2015, [21] in recognition of his second book, A Dangerous Master: How to keep technology from slipping beyond our control, [22] which discusses the ethics and governance of various emerging technologies. [22] In this book, Wallach argues that "technological development is at risk of becoming a juggernaut beyond human control," and proposes "solutions for regaining control of our technological destiny." [22] In 2015, he received a grant from the Future of Life Institute for a project titled "Control and Responsible Innovation in the Development of Autonomous Machines". [23] [24] In 2024, A Dangerous Master was republished by Sentient Publications with a new preface [25] and new examples. [9]
Wallach is the editor of the Library of Essays on Ethics and Emerging Technologies, [26] [27] where he co-edited a volume on Robot Ethics and Machine Ethics with Peter Asaro, [28] and a volume Emerging Technologies: Ethics, Law, and Governance with Gary Marchant. [29] He received a Fulbright Scholarship as a Visiting Research Chair at the University of Ottawa for 2015–2016, [30] and in 2018 he was named the Distinguished Austin J. Fagothey Visiting professor at Santa Clara University. [31] Wallach was appointed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to co-chair the Global Future Council on Technology, Values, and Policy for the 2016–2018 term. [32] He also sat on the WEF AI council from 2018–2020, [33] and was the lead organizer for the International Congress for the Governance of AI, which was scheduled to meet in Prague in 2020 but was forced to move online due to COVID-19. [34] [35] The online meetings were hosted by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (CCEIA) in 2021 and sought to create a Global Governance Network for AI (GGN-AI). [36]
United Nations
In 2016, Wallach gave testimony at the United Nations (UN) Third Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Meeting of Experts on the issue of predictability in lethal autonomous weapons systems, [37] The testimony argued that "while increasing autonomy, improving intelligence, and machine learning can boost the system's accuracy in performing certain tasks, they can also increase the unpredictability in how a system performs overall. Risk will rise relative to the power of the munitions the system can discharge." [37] He later served as a member of the UN Global Pulse Expert Group on Governance and Data of AI in 2019, which called for responsible development of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to reach the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. [38] In addition, he served as an advisor to the Secretary General's Higher-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, and was cited in their 2019 report "The Age of Digital Interdependence." [39]
