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Designing autonomous and intelligent systems is not purely a technical activity. Instead, engineers, scientists, and other designers must understand and consider the ethical considerations involved in their work and make appropriate choices to deal with situations and concerns often involving life and safety. The IEEE P7000 series of standards starts to address those considerations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) enabled products and services are becoming a staple of everyday life. While governments and businesses are eager to enjoy the benefits of AI innovations, the mixed impact of these autonomous and intelligent systems on human well-being has become a pressing issue. This article introduces one of the first international standards focused on the social and ethical implications of AI: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) Standard (Std) 7010-2020 Recommended Practice for Assessing the Impact of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems on Human Well-being. Incorporating well-being factors throughout the lifecycle of AI is both challenging and urgent and IEEE 7010 provides key guidance for those who design, deploy, and procure these technologies. We begin by articulating the benefits of an approach for AI centered around well-being and the measurement of well-being data. Next, we provide an overview of IEEE 7010, including its key principles and how the standard relates to approaches and perspectives in place in the AI community. Finally, we indicate where future efforts are needed., Preprint draft, a version was presented at the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), Special Session on Human Well-Being in the Context of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems. Final version is available at indicated source

The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (A/IS) is a program of the IEEE initiated to address ethical issues raised by the development and dissemination of these systems. It identified over one hundred and twenty key issues and provided candidate recommendations to address them. In addition, it has provided the inspiration for fourteen approved standardization projects that are currently under development with the IEEE Standards Association.

Reports on the scope, goals, and initiatives of the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems.