In this section, we present the working groups that are active in the KI.ASSIST project.
The KI.ASSIST project is investigating to what extent and under what conditions AI-based assistance systems support people with disabilities in their transition to the general labour market and their participation in working life. In the process, ethical questions regarding, among other things, the opportunities, risks and limits of artificial intelligence (AI) will also be examined:
- What opportunities and risks do AI technologies offer for the inclusion of people with disabilities?
- What are the particular vulnerabilities of people with disabilities? What are the limits of the use of AI for people with disabilities?
- Which ethical fields of action do AI technologies open up in the context of the inclusion of people with disabilities and which ethical guard rails should be set?
- How can AI technologies be examined in terms of ethical aspects in the practice of vocational rehabilitation and in companies?
To answer these and other questions, people with disabilities are directly interviewed in learning and experimental rooms (LER) for testing AI technologies. Within the framework of the working group Ethics, AI & People with Disabilities, we pool knowledge from actors in the fields of inclusion respectively vocational rehabilitation, ethics and artificial intelligence (AI). Based on practical experiences in the learning and experimental rooms, the aforementioned questions will be discussed and concrete recommendations on the topics of digital ethics and digital responsibility will be developed. The intention is to link to existing work (including AI ethics guidelines of the European Commission) and expand existing work and current discourses to include the perspective of people with disabilities.
The working group Ethics, AI & People with Disabilities started on November 9, 2020 with a digital kick-off meeting and will work on the above-mentioned issues via digital dialogue formats throughout the project. Five digital working sessions are planned over a period of 16 months. The result will be a handout that provides information on ethical issues, opportunities and risks, as well as guidelines for AI for people with disabilities.
The long-term goal of the KI.ASSIST project is to improve the participation of people with disabilities in working life with the support of AI-based assistance systems. The working group "Inclusive Working World with Artificial Intelligence" is dedicated to the conditions and challenges for the use of AI technologies in companies on the primary labor market. Questions are addressed that go beyond the context of testing AI-supported assistance systems in vocational rehabilitation facilities. Guiding questions for the working group are:
- To what extent can the AI technologies tested in the innovation spaces support the transition from rehabilitation to the general labor market?
- To what extent can AI-based assistance systems be used to support employees with disabilities in companies?
- What is relevant for the transferability and use of AI-supported technologies in the general labor market?
- What new challenges do AI technologies pose in the vocational provision of aids process?
- What need for change results from this for the supply process with AI-supported technical aids in the workplace?
Experts from different areas of the vocational rehabilitation system as well as companies are working together in the working group to shed light on the complex issues from as many relevant perspectives as possible.
The working group began its work on October 12, 2021, and will accompany the project until its completion in March 2022.