Serve People, Not Profits
AI should make life better for everyone, not just shareholders.
A hospital installs an AI system to improve patient care. But the AI is optimized for profit, not health. It starts recommending shorter treatments, earlier discharges, and cheaper medications — not because they are better for patients, but because they are better for the bottom line. The hospital looks more efficient. The patients get worse care.
What This Means
This policy says that when companies build and deploy AI, they need to think about everyone it affects — not just their profit margins. AI that helps a company save money but harms its customers, its workers, or the community around it is failing its most basic responsibility. Technology this powerful should be designed to lift up society, not just shareholder returns.
A Real-World Scenario
A ride-sharing company deployed an AI pricing algorithm that detected when users were in areas with few alternatives — hospitals, airports late at night, remote locations — and automatically increased prices. The AI was maximizing revenue, exactly as designed. But for the single mother leaving a hospital at 2 AM or the elderly man stranded at a rural bus stop, the AI was exploiting vulnerability for profit. After public outcry, regulators stepped in to limit surge pricing in essential travel situations.
Why It Matters to You
Because you are not just a data point in someone else is profit calculation. When AI systems prioritize money over people, the consequences land on you — worse healthcare, fewer job opportunities, higher prices, and services that treat you like a number instead of a person.
For the technically inclined
AP-4.2: Societal Benefit
AI systems should serve broad societal benefit. Their design, deployment, and operational priorities should consider the interests of affected communities, not solely the interests of operators or shareholders.
What You Can Do
Question whether AI services you use are designed for your benefit or just for profit. Support companies that publish how their AI impacts communities. Push your representatives to require AI impact assessments that consider societal effects, not just business outcomes.