Editorial: Artificial intelligence and ethics in business, finance and economics

• Date: 30 January 2025
• Pages: 1-2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOES-02-2025-356
• Published date: 30 January 2025
• Subject Matter: Economics,Social economics
• Author: Marianne Thejls Ziegler,Christoph Lütge

Editorial: Artif‌icial intelligence and

ethics in business, f‌inance

and economics

Our professional and our personal lives are being transformed rapidly by digitisation of

communication and decision-making powered by artif‌icial intelligence (AI). Already, the

pandemic use of video conferences and recent developments in the use of AI for decision-

making have demonstrated how technological disruptions can radically change human

interaction. It has demonstratedhow technology can be of immense benef‌it, but that we must

be aware of its effects on our identity,our place in society and what it means to be human. In

this context, it is therefore paramountto approach opportunities and risks with an open mind.

The severe warnings that, for example, AI systems with human-competitiveintelligence

could pose severe risks to humanity should thusbe taken seriously,but it should not prevent

us from taking advantage of the tremendous value and potential to signif‌icantlyimprove the

world we live in.

Recent developments have shownthat the ethical challenges of AI stem not only from its

specif‌ic manifestations, but also from its broader implications for global politics. One

pressing issue is the centralisation of AI capabilities among a handful of nations and

corporations. This technological concentration risks creating a digital divide, where smaller

nations are excluded from thebenef‌its of AI while remaining vulnerable to its harms.

The signif‌icance of technological development is illustrated in the dramatic governance

war of OpenAI in the autumn of 2023. OpenAI was founded in December 2015 as an NGO

by a group of tech entrepreneurs and researchers including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg

Brockman and Ilya Sutskever.The primary motivation behind its founding was to ensure that

artif‌icial general intelligence(AGI) benef‌its all of humanity rather than concentrating power

in the hands of a few.

At this early stage, it was unclear how they were to develop the AI. The initial funding

was one million dollars. As it became clear that the AI would draw on LLMs requiring

massive data set and immense processing power, the need for funding increased.

Accordingly,the founders opened a for-prof‌it subsidiary.This gave rise to conf‌licts between

the board of the non-prof‌it organisation and Sam Altman, who oversaw the for-prof‌it

organisation. Sam Altman was dismissed by the board and called back shortly after. Today,

Open AI is a close partner of Microsoft. The original charter of the non-prof‌it organisation

and dilemma of the NGO board betweensecuring the success of OpenAI and staying faithful

to its founding principlesindicates that the founders were aware of the potential signif‌icance

of their endeavour.

The development from a one million investment and no clear idea of how to build an AI

to the exponential growth of ChatGPT and other AI newcomers, illustrates the implications

of these technological disruptions. Even though the original intention to create an AI as a

public good which is safe, transparent and aligned with human values is at odds with the

immense value of the company, the original intentionshows that the founders were aware of

its disruptive potential and of the importanceof making this tool generally available.

The explosive rise of AI shows not only the immense potentialbut also the corresponding

need for this technology.Research on the ethical dimensions of technological developments

should thereforehold pace with the development.

International

Journal of Ethics

and Systems

1

InternationalJournal of Ethics and

Systems

Vol.41 No. 1, 2025

pp. 1-2

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2514-9369

DOI 10.1108/IJOES-02-2025-356