The Daily Slop

Oxymoronic concept delivered in front of hundreds of palpably relieved tech workers at London’s TechWeek.

A new term was coined this week aimed at assuaging the guilt of tech workers around the world: Ethical AI. 

Sarah Renyard, Head of Innovation at the London Artificial Intelligence Movement (LAIM) delivered the phrase with remarkable insouciance during her closing keynote speech. Her message? Being part of the widespread adoption of an objectively destructive technology needn’t be at odds with one’s personal morals. 

Renyard believes this new school of thought has the potential to allow thousands of tech workers to sleep better at night, despite their daily activities leading the rest of the world down an irreversible path of misery and despair. 

“Ethical AI is about focusing on the good that we’re doing as an industry without being burdened by also having to take responsibility for our actions.”

The impact of AI has led some workers in the tech industry to question whether the liberal morals they were strongly encouraged to adopt by their employers over the last decade are still relevant to their jobs. 

In a recent survey by The Daily Slop, respondents highlighted a number of areas where they felt the impact of AI had the potential to be at odds with the tech industry’s stated aim of saving the world: devastating environmental damage, mass unemployment, and the ongoing weaponization of AI from authoritarian leaders to destabilise global democracy were each cited as possible areas of contradiction. 

But Renyard offered words of comfort for those feeling the strain from mental gymnastics. 

“What people don’t talk about enough are the problems that we at the forefront of AI are solving in order to push humanity forward and make the world a better place.”

When one audience member pushed Renyard for specificity around what those problems were, they were forcibly removed by security. When later asked about the incident, Renyard responded:

“Look, there will always be those who are against progress because their little luddite minds aren’t able to grasp the sheer scale of what we can achieve with AI. I feel sorry for them, but I hope that Ethical AI will be the thing that allows them to see the light.”. 

Renyard’s speech was greeted with a standing ovation from the audience, many of whom have since reported that the urge to quit their jobs and cleanse their consciences at an NGO for a few years has dramatically decreased. 

Meanwhile, TechWeek organizers are said to be delighted after similarly rousing speeches from executives at Shell, BP and British American Tobacco throughout the week also received widespread acclaim from the tech community.