The ethical problems of ‘intelligence–AI’

Interest in artificial intelligence (AI) has grown rapidly alongside the ability to examine information in far vaster quantities and from more diverse sources, and to provide previously unattainable forms of evaluation. For the intelligence community, AI offers an important solution to their data collection bottleneck, allowing the data to be processed and analysed at speeds and in ways not previously possible. While AI has received some general criticism, when it is combined with the reach, secrecy, and coercive power of the intelligence community it creates unique ethical problems. Intelligence–AI exacerbates the biases AI creates, undermines proposed transparency solutions, and creates new ethical dilemmas and harms. This article examines intelligence–AI across its collection, processing, and analysis phases. It argues that open-source does not necessarily mean ethical, as the AI collection en masse of social media data violates citizens’ privacy, consent and autonomy. The article also argues that AI-aided categorization is overly reductive and perpetuates harmful social binaries, while also revealing new private information beyond what was initially shared. Finally, it argues that the secretive intelligence environment prevents critical interrogation while promoting practices that, through the coercive power of the state, cause unequal harms across society.