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Arctic 2.0: How Artificial Intelligence Can Help Develop a Frontier

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2019

Patrick Lin  and
Fritz Allhoff
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Abstract

Technology has an outsized impact on the modern world; it is how we have tamed our frontiers. But that role is largely ignored when it comes to the Arctic frontier. Emerging technologies, especially AI, can enable desperately needed services and infrastructure—but they can also challenge ethics, law, and policy, as they usually do. For instance, autonomous icebreaker ships pose a dual-use dilemma since they can be used for both humanitarian and military purposes. As a lesson for other frontiers, this article will broadly introduce the potential role of AI in the changing Arctic and some of the ethical concerns that deserve attention before that future arrives.

Keywords

Arcticfrontierartificial intelligenceethicshuman securityinfrastructuredevelopmentconflict
Type
Roundtable: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Global Affairs
Information
Ethics & International Affairs , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , Summer 2019 , pp. 193 - 205
Copyright
Copyright © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 2019 

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Footnotes

*

The authors thank the National Science Foundation (award #1317798) and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research for their generous support. We also thank the Fulbright Specialist Program, the Icelandic Fulbright Commission, and the University of Iceland for hosting research visits. Finally, we thank Anna Kietzerow for her editorial assistance and the editors of Ethics & International Affairs for convening this timely roundtable.

References

NOTES

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2 Patrick Lin, “Artificial Islands, Robo-Ships, Sleepless Soldiers. Is this the Future of the Arctic?,” World Economic Forum, July 12, 2018, www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/07/how-floating-islands-and-robot-icebreakers-could-shape-the-arctic.

3 Eilís Quinn, “Arctic Council Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, January 16, 2018, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/arctic-council-nobel-peace-prize-1.4490427.

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25 Patrick Lin, “The Moral Gray Space of AI Decisions,” Ethical Machine, Shorenstein Center of Media, Politics and Public Policy, December 3, 2018, ai.shorensteincenter.org/ideas/2018/12/1/the-moral-gray-space-of-ai-decisions-6sc59.

26 See Scharre, Paul, Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War (New York: W. W. Norton, 2018)Google Scholar; Robert Work, “Remarks by Deputy Secretary Work on Third Offset Strategy” (speech, European Policy Committee Meeting, Brussels, April 28, 2016); Lin, Patrick, “Military 2.0: Ethical Blowback from Emerging Technologies,” Journal of Military Ethics 9, no. 4 (December 2010), pp. 313–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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28 Orri Jóhannsson, “Food Security in Iceland” (European Consortium for Political Research, 2011), p. 2, ecpr.eu/Filestore/PaperProposal/0d9be52b-e783-4442-8fa5-54cf5d68257b.pdf.

29 Kaleigh Rogers, “Amazon Prime Is a Blessing and a Curse for Remote Towns,” Motherboard, July 13, 2017, motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwz4dz/amazon-prime-is-a-blessing-and-a-curse-for-remote-towns.

30 “First Prime Air Delivery: December 7, 2016, Fully Autonomous — No Human Pilot, 13 Minutes — Click to Delivery,” Amazon Prime Air video, 2:05, www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011.

31 “Transforming the Way Goods are Transported,” X, x.company/projects/wing/.

32 Allhoff, “Alaska, Food Security, and Climate Change.”

33 Stephanie Harper, “The Greenhouse Where Tomatoes Grow in Iceland,” Atlas Obscura, June 13, 2018, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/farms-in-iceland.

34 Khari Johnson, “Microsoft Researchers Beat Tencent and Intel in Autonomous Greenhouse Competition,” VentureBeat, December 14, 2018, venturebeat.com/2018/12/14/microsoft-researchers-beat-tencent-and-intel-in-autonomous-greenhouse-competition/.

35 Matt Simon, “Lab Grown Meat Is Coming, Whether You Like It or Not,” WIRED, February 16, 2018, www.wired.com/story/lab-grown-meat.

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37 Clement, Joel P., Bengtson, John L., and Kelly, Brendan P., Managing for the Future in a Rapidly Changing Arctic: A Report to the President (Washington, D.C.: Interagency Working Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting in Alaska, March 2013), pp. 20–21, 30Google Scholar, www.afsc.noaa.gov/publications/misc_pdf/iamreport.pdf. See also Clark, Dylan and Ford, James D., “Emergency Response in a Rapidly Changing Arctic,” Canadian Medical Association Journal 189, no. 4 (January 2017), pp. E135–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 Allhoff and Golemon, “Bioethics in the Arctic.”

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43 Lin, “Military 2.0.”

44 Cecelia Kang, “Melting Arctic Ice Makes High-Speed Internet a Reality in a Remote Town,” New York Times, December 2, 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/technology/from-the-arctics-melting-ice-an-unexpected-digital-hub.html. See also Arctic Council Task Force on Telecommunications Infrastructure in the Arctic, Telecommunications Infrastructure in the Arctic: A Circumpolar Assessment (Tromsø, Norway: Arctic Council Secretariat, 2017), oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/1924/2017-04-28-ACS_Telecoms_REPORT_WEB-2.pdf.

45 “Loon for All: Balloon-Powered Internet for All,” Project Loon, Google, www.google.com/intl/es419/loon.

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48 Clement et al., Managing for the Future in a Rapidly Changing Arctic, pp. 18–21.

49 Ronald O'Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress [May 24, 2018] (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, 2018), www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=811054.

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56 O'Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China.

57 Ibid.

58 Megan Specia and Mikko Takkunen, “South China Sea Photos Suggest a Military Building Spree by Beijing,” New York Times, February 8, 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/world/asia/south-china-seas-photos.html.

59 Nathan J. Robinson, “Is It Ethical to Use Amazon?,” Current Affairs, December 8, 2018, www.currentaffairs.org/2018/12/is-it-ethical-to-use-amazon.

60 Lin, “Moral Gray Space of AI Decisions.”

61 Darren Quick, “Nano-Particle Coating Prevents Ice Buildup on Roads and Power Lines,” New Atlas, October 30, 2009, newatlas.com/anti-ice-coating/13231/.