The Difference Between AI Safety, AI Ethics, and Responsible AI
2 min read5 days ago
Some worry about existential threats, others about fairness, and others want to avoid bad PR. AI security, AI ethics, and responsible AI are three overlapping but distinct ways of dealing with the risks and responsibilities of artificial intelligence. One is about survival, one is about morals, and the last is about (at least one could quickly get the appearance of) making everything sound good in a press release. Let’s quickly look at the three areas and try to differentiate them.
1. AI Safety — “Let’s ensure this thing doesn’t kill us (intentionally or otherwise.)”
- Focuses on preventing catastrophic risks, unintended consequences, and existential threats from AI.
- Concerned with things like AI alignment, robustness, and control.
- It’s about making AI not dangerous rather than just well-intended.
2. AI Ethics — “Just because we can build it, should we?”
- It deals with moral and philosophical questions about AI’s impact on society.
- Topics include bias, fairness, accountability, and human rights.
- This is where people write long papers about what “good” AI should look like — while companies ignore them.
3. Responsible AI — “Don’t worry, we’ll use our godlike AI powers wisely. ”
- A corporate-friendly term often means building AI that aligns with ethical guidelines, regulatory frameworks, and business interests.
- Think of it as AI Ethics but with a PowerPoint presentation and a PR team.
- It acknowledges risks but prefers the narrative that humans (not AI) are responsible for its outcomes.
In short, AI Safety is about not dying, AI Ethics is about not being evil, and Responsible AI is about not getting sued.
At a glance:
- I know this differentiation is too superficial, but I hope it can serve as a basis for discussion.
This might be of interest:
You can read an excerpt from the book “Critical Thinking is Your Superpower” here:
