Towards and Ethical Framework in the Complex Digital Era

Since modernity, ethic has been progressively fragmented into specific communities of practice. The digital revolution enabled by AI and Data is bringing ethical wicked problems in the crossroads of technology and behavior. However, the need of a comprehensive and constructive ethical framework is emerging as digital platforms connect us globally. The unequal structure of the global system makes that dynamic changes and systemic problems impact more on those that are most vulnerable. Ethical frameworks based only on the individual-level are not longer sufficient. A new ethical vision must comprise the understanding of the scales and complex interconnections of social systems. Many of these systems are internally fragile and very sensitive to external factors and threats, which turns into unethical situations that require systemic solutions. The high scale nature of digital technology that expands globally has also an impact at the individual level having the risk to make humans beings more homogeneous, predictable and ultimately controllable. To preserve the core of humanity ethic must take a stand to preserve and keep promoting individual rights and uniqueness and cultural heterogeneity tackling the negative trends and impact of digitalization. Only combining human-centered and collectiveness-oriented digital development it will be possible to construct new social models and human-machine interactions that are ethical. This vision requires science to enhance ethical frameworks and principles with the actionable insights of relationships and properties of the social systems that may not be evident and need to be quantified and understood to be solved. Artificial Intelligence is both a risk and and opportunity for an ethical development, thus we need a conceptual construct that drives towards a better digitalizated world.