The Ethics Committee of the e-DIPLOMA research project has held a very productive and enriching meeting this week. This relevant committee is made up of Dr. Inmaculada Remolar, PI of the project (this time replaced by Rubén García), Prof. Vladislav Slavov, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Automation of the Technical University of Sofia and expert in AI applied to education, Athina Kasini from CSI, the leader entity of the work package dedicated to ethical issues and Jahna Otterbacher from the Open University of Cyprus (OUC) who also coordinates the Cyprus Center for Algorithmic Transparency (CyCAT).
The meeting focused on discussing ethical concerns related to the use of a recommender system in the new e-learning platform that the project is currently developing. The recommender system will use artificial intelligence (AI) to suggest personalized content to each user.
The e-DIPLOMA project recognizes the importance of ensuring that the e-learning platform is designed with ethical principles in mind. The recommendation system has the potential to significantly improve the learning experience for users, but it can also raise ethical concerns if not implemented carefully.
The discussion focused on several key areas of concern, including data privacy, bias, fairness, transparency, autonomy, and continuous improvement. The committee also discussed the importance of incorporating diverse perspectives into recommender system development to minimize algorithmic bias. For the e-DIPLOMA project it is essential not to perpetuate harmful stereotypes or reinforce existing biases.
This meeting was productive in identifying potential ethical concerns related to the recommendation system and brainstorming ways to mitigate those concerns. Committee members stressed the importance of ongoing communication and collaboration to ensure that the e-learning platform is developed with ethical considerations at the forefront.
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