Ethics in AI has become a debated topic of public and expert discourse in recent years. But what do people who build AI - AI practitioners - have to say about their understanding of AI ethics and the challenges associated with incorporating it in the AI-based systems they develop? Understanding AI practitioners' views on AI ethics is important as they are the ones closest to the AI systems and can bring about changes and improvements. We conducted a survey aimed at understanding AI practitioners' awareness of AI ethics and their challenges in incorporating ethics. Based on 100 AI practitioners' responses, our findings indicate that majority of AI practitioners had a reasonable familiarity with the concept of AI ethics, primarily due to workplace rules and policies. Privacy protection and security was the ethical principle that majority of them were aware of. Formal education/training was considered somewhat helpful in preparing practitioners to incorporate AI ethics. The challenges that AI practitioners faced in the development of ethical AI-based systems included (i) general challenges, (ii) technology-related challenges and (iii) human-related challenges. We also identified areas needing further investigation and provided recommendations to assist AI practitioners and companies in incorporating ethics into AI development.

翻译：近年来，AI伦理已成为公众与专家讨论的焦点议题。然而，AI系统构建者——即AI从业者——对AI伦理的理解以及在其开发的基于AI的系统中融入伦理所面临的挑战，究竟有何见解？理解AI从业者对AI伦理的看法至关重要，因为他们是与AI系统最接近的群体，能够推动变革与改进。我们开展了一项调查，旨在了解AI从业者对AI伦理的认知及其在融入伦理过程中面临的挑战。基于100位AI从业者的反馈，研究结果表明：多数从业者对AI伦理概念具备合理熟悉度，这主要得益于工作场所的规则与政策；隐私保护与安全是他们最广泛知晓的伦理原则；正式教育/培训被认为对帮助从业者融入AI伦理有一定助益。AI从业者在开发合乎伦理的AI系统时面临的挑战包括：(i)通用挑战、(ii)技术相关挑战及(iii)人为相关挑战。我们还识别了需要进一步研究的领域，并提出建议以协助AI从业者及企业在AI开发中融入伦理考量。