Ethics Providers

Platforms as facilitators and brokers of value judgements

Altered and automated engagement with beliefs

In the future, we foresee a possible advancement of AI with the ability to codify and model the highly complex ethical parameters of everyday life. Services could evolve to understand, translate and guide people through the implied ethical components of decisions —ranging from who to vote for, who to pray for, what products to buy or abstain from, which organisations to support, how to raise a child or educate them and who to follow. With this technological capacity, we envisage a politicisation of many organisations and activities, and an ability to track behaviours and allocate people to distinct ethical categories, opening a type of transparency and clarity to people’s beliefs.

The complexity of adhering to ethical principles and making distinct choices often leads to people wanting to outsource these decisions. This is fundamentally not that new. People frequently default to other ethical structures such as religious leaders, familial beliefs, friendship groups, social media bubbles, journalists or role models etc. for guidance. In this context, what has the potential to expand is the ability to clearly select and integrate your own values with other adopted ethical structures and allow them to algorithmically integrate and guide you clearly through everyday decisions.

What might be down the path?

Within this new type of relationship between people and services, we may find that people in the public domain, with influence in whatever form, could become ethical leaders. They could ascribe their own beliefs to public ethics platforms and amass followers who adopt their guidance and integrate their ethics into their own. Consider adding a David Attenborough plugin to your ethics system or Stormzy, Donald Trump or any instagram influencer or being able to see who your friends and family ‘follow’ and being able to do the same. Might professional ethicists and philosophers gain new importance? Consider then, those influencers guiding and recommending what food you eat, what you believe from the bible, what you read, what your children see online, what films you watch or who you vote for.

This concept embedded into politics becomes even more interesting. The examples above are mostly figures outside political organisations, but they become more political through these services. If politicians did the same, their values would be more transparent and their alignment or misalignment to your own values could be clear. Particularly, as there will likely be some sort of tracking of these behaviours, and perhaps a willingness for politicians to declare their adherence to the values they proclaim —similar to the publicising of tax returns.

Another emerging component of this future landscape is that people may feel less freedom to explore and live the values they inherently believe in, in favour of the values that are ascribed and popularised by their influencers. There could emerge a difference between what people believe and the ethics and values they live by. Ultimately evolving into an environment in which people’s freedoms are restricted. These services may initially represent an opportunity for people to live more closely with their values, but could eventually alter the integrity or the honesty with which people engage with their values —unless efforts are made to distinguish and develop an individual’s perspective as well.

Each proposition is a vehicle to help map this territory.

Find out how we ‘Framed strategic questions’ to define the design research.

Ethos

Ethos is a proposition that learns, tracks and guides people’s behaviours to help them live more in line with their values and beliefs.

Greencoin

Greencoin is a proposition that tracks your environmental impact. When you have a positive impact you earn Greencoin currency, which can be spent on sustainable products.

Mobible

Mobible is a proposition that helps connect your faith with you, your life and your community via a chatbot. It is based on church teachings and knowledge decoded from the scripture.

Empath

Empath assesses and builds student’s social intelligence and empathy for other people through in-school, personalised, immersive story-telling.

Kinderpendent

Kinderpendent helps you understand how balanced your child’s online exposure is to challenging social topics and perspectives. It manages that exposure through intelligent balancing and censorship tools and offers advice and support for parents and children while navigating big topics.

Proposition Types

Agency Enhancers

Developing a deeper AI driven understanding of yourself to influence your decisions and optimise for your happiness and prosperity.

Proposition Types

Self-Editors

Optimising and Editing yourself and your life to meet your personal criteria for success.

Other Proposition types

Proposition Types

Relationship Facilitators

Creating and facilitating relationships through enhanced empathy and compatibility.

Proposition Types

Need Commoditisers

The commoditisation of our needs and values to incentivise behaviour change. The advanced digitisation of our lives could result in the quantifying and subsequent unionisation of different aspects of behaviour and the values that drive them.

Ethics Providers

Platforms as facilitators and brokers of value judgements

Altered and automated engagement with beliefs