March 4, 2023 to honor our dear friend and colleague Peter Eckersley at the Internet Archive at 5 pm in San Fransisco.
AI research might benefit from a voluntary Hippocratic-type oath. In Peter’s memory, we have proposed this as a rough initial version:
If you like the idea or would like to help get involved, please sign-up below with your suggestions.
We will use our new LLM tool, Talk to the City, to collect and analyze people’s responses on what the oath should include.
After we will build a final Oath to send to everyone signed-up.
This is simply a first step in Peter’s memory of an item we believe should exist.
The (Draft) Eckersley Oath:
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, the Eckersley Oath:
I will strive to create tools that benefit the world and make it a better place.
I will not support AI research or groups that I believe are likely to cause harm.
I will share my concerns about specific AI work with others so that attention can be brought to issues.
I will honor the principle that warmth, sympathy, and understanding of society may outweigh technological breakthroughs or profit.
We pledge to work together as a community. We will support each other, share knowledge and resources, and collaborate to solve complex problems.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and love, be respected while I live, and be remembered with affection after that. May I always act to preserve the finest traditions of my calling, and may I long experience the joy of creating tools to improve the world.