What’s Economics Got to Do with It? Providing Theoretical Clarity on ELSA of AI

While research in the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) has grown recently, the relationship between AI’s ethical and economic dimensions is under-researched. This is surprising, given the considerable investments in AI by Big Tech companies (e.g., Microsoft, META and IBM) and their ambiguous role in today’s public debate on AI. After the second Trump election, this ambiguity has resulted in industry opposition to rules and regulations (e.g., disinvestments in moderation facilities at social media platforms and calls for deregulation). AI ethics must respond to the economic underpinnings of this situation.

While economics in AI ethics has also been seen in recent funding schemes (e.g., investment in 30 ethical, legal, and social (ELSA) labs), there is a ambiguity in how these AI ELSA labs should respond to economic aspects. This paper examines the role of economics in responsible AI research, using the case of the ELSA lab approach. The four features of ELSA (proximity, anticipation, interdisciplinarity, and interactivity) serve as a point of departure to demonstrate how economics can be integrated within the ELSA framework of AI. This paper proposes that economics should be integrated within these four ELSA features to implement responsible AI successfully.