Ethics in recommendation systems from the experts: A case study

In this research, it is aimed to reveal the thoughts and orientations of academicians and subject experts on the ethics of recommendation systems and to examine this issue in depth. In the research, which is a case study, document review, interviews and the implementation of the Q method are the stages of the study. The sample for the document review of the research was determined as the articles examining the guidelines for artificial intelligence ethics. The articles were selected according to certain criteria, and these meta-studies were subjected to content analysis and a meta-study of them was carried out. Snowball sampling was preferred for semi-structured interviews. In the context of the common principles obtained from the articles, a semi-structured interview form was created and data were collected through online interviews with 9 different experts in the field of artificial intelligence and through the form with 1 expert. Content analysis was carried out with the data obtained from the interviews. Since there is no theoretical framework on the ethics of recommendation systems in order to apply the Q methodology, a theme of the interview data was subjected to a secondary analysis and a theoretical framework was obtained. The sample of the Q application was selected from the faculty members whose field of interest is artificial intelligence in universities located in the borders of Turkey. 47 academicians participated in the Q application on the web and the data of 42 participants were evaluated. The findings were discussed in the context of science ethics, virtue ethics and literature. Suggestions for decision makers, developers and researchers in the field are presented.