Ethics and innovation: the entrepreneurs' tandem

In the age of artificial intelligence, innovation and ethics go hand in hand. Thierry Geerts, CEO of BECI, explains how these two elements contribute to the success of a modern company.

Who said ethics and innovation can't go hand in hand? These two concepts are inextricably interconnected for the success of a business. While legislation and researchers scrutinise the social risks of non-ethical artificial intelligence, it is up to companies to ensure that their innovations meet ethical standards.

Evolution and innovation

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ethics is defined as ‘moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.’ However, this definition is not static and evolves with society and time. In the 1960s, progress was celebrated without questioning its environmental or social impact. When aerosols were invented, no one worried about their effect on the ozone layer.

Ethical principles also vary depending on culture. In Europe, they focus on the welfare of citizens. If we integrate this vision into the corporate culture, we come very close to a European value.

Today, the entrepreneurial world is different. Companies must adapt to the new realities and strive for more responsible entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs succeed when society succeeds. One way to do this is by integrating ESG criteria - Environmental, Social and Governance criteria. Let us not forget that when we talk about ESG, it is not just about sustainability, but we must also take into account the ethical element.

Progressing responsibly

In order to evolve, a company must observe both innovation and moral principles. If it does not pay attention to these, the company will face a reputation problem and lose customers. Companies that integrate these values from the very beginning are more likely to succeed because they develop products that are aligned with society.

As soon as we start thinking about creating a product, we need to think about ethics, especially if we decide to integrate AI into our field of work. Let's take an example of a database used with AI. If I use it to find new customers and I give it data of white male customers aged 50, the AI will only focus on this profile. The data will then be biased and other profiles will be excluded. However, we cannot blame the system for doing what we ask of it. To avoid this bias, ethics should be integrated from the moment the system is developed.

In short, in modern entrepreneurship, innovation cannot be separated from ethics. They have to be aligned from the beginning and not afterwards. Nowadays, it makes no sense to talk about innovation without ethics.

By Thierry Geerts & Era Balaj