Abstract

As more and more companies adopt artificial intelligence to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their products and services, they expose themselves to ethical crises and potentially damaging public controversy associated with its use. Despite the prevalence of AI ethical problems, most companies are strategically unprepared to respond effectively to the public. This paper aims to advance our empirical understanding of company responses to AI ethical crises by focusing on the rise and fall of facial recognition technology. Specifically, through a comparative case study of how four big technology companies responded to public outcry over their facial recognition programs, we not only demonstrated the unfolding and consequences of public controversies over this new technology, but also identified and described four major types of company responses—Deflection, Improvement, Validation, and Pre-emption. These findings pave the way for future research on the management of controversial technology and the ethics of AI.