Ethical dilemma
Scenario
Read the following discussion between a Department Manager and a Senior Executive Assistant during workhours at their company’s office.
Mark (Department Manager): Evelyn, we are forming the new executive committee, but we are not going to include you this time.
Evelyn (Senior Executive Assistant): I have organised this committee for twenty years, Mark. Why am I suddenly left out?
Mark: It relates to the new AI security system. It analyses how we behave to stop email scams. The AI flagged our team for ‘authority bias.’ It means we are too quick to follow orders from the top.
Evelyn: Wait. Because I respect the rules and do what the executives ask, the AI thinks I will fall for a hacker’s trick?
Mark: It is not personal. The computer just says that people who strictly follow the instructions are a bigger security risk right now. We need people on the committee who will naturally question leadership.
Evelyn: So a machine has decided that my decades of loyalty are actually a weakness. If my experience is treated like a security threat instead of an asset, I resign.
Your task
- Pinpoint the central issue at play here.
- Using the ALTAI list of requirements, identify the ethics requirements in tension.