The Ethics of IT and AI: When we can do it, should we do it?

Wednesday 2nd May 2018, 6:30 pm.

Speaker: Chris Rees FBCS CITP, BCS President

Venue: Room 4.31, University of Edinburgh Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh.

Refreshments and networking from 6:00 pm.

Synopsis

Chris Rees, President of the BCS, will speak about his presidential theme, Ethics, and the practical issues that confront us in IT when ethical considerations arise. He will point out the relationship between ethics and Making IT Good for Society. He will discuss how and when ethics should be considered, the obstacles to doing so, how they may be overcome and how the Institute can help members in such situations. He will then focus on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence and the ethical problems that this fast developing technology raises.

About the speaker

After St. Andrews University, Chris joined IBM in 1966 in a technical support role. He then moved to the USA with National CSS Inc, a pioneer in virtual systems. Returning to the UK, he joined Logica, where he held a number of management roles, ultimately Managing Director of Logica Software Products Ltd.

In 1986 he joined Touche Ross Management Consultants (later Deloitte Consulting) as a Partner. His assignments included the Fraud Audits of privatisation share issues and acting as Programme Director for the Gas Industry Domestic Competition Pilot.

In October 1996, he co-founded Charteris. He led consulting engagements for clients including National Air Traffic Services (NATS), UNESCO and Centrica. He led Charteris’ Expert Witness practice for many years. He retired in 2015.

A Chartered Fellow of the BCS, he co-founded the Financial Services Special Interest Group, FINSIG. He chairs the Ethical and Spiritual Development Panel of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.