Advising AI assistant: ethical risks of Oura smart ring

Gladiš, M., Mesarčík, M., Slosiarova N.

Wearable devices with monitoring and recommendation functions are designed to provide personalised feedback and support to help individuals manage their health and well-being. One of the most widespread uses of these wearable devices is in the area of sleep monitoring. For users, this means they can make more informed decisions and the insight from the device allows them to influence the quality of their sleep better. However, with the use of these devices, certain values such as privacy and autonomy may be at stake. This is particularly true for new methods of artificial intelligence technologies that can provide an unprecedented level of detail about their users. According to the European regulation on artificial intelligence, these wearable assistants will be classified as high-risk and thus will have to undergo a demanding conformity assessment. That’s why we decided to choose one of the most popular wearables that can provide recommendations for its users, the Oura Smart Ring and conduct a Human Rights, Ethical and Social Impact Assessment of it. This choice was made in part due to the wealth of publicly available information about this device. We have found that it can pose a high risk to the user from several ethical and legal perspectives that can easily be overlooked in the design and use of these technologies. We have also proposed countermeasures that could in theory reduce their potential harmful effect if implemented. This article contributes to a better understanding of the ethical and fundamental rights risks of using wearable sleep monitoring devices and thus helps to improve the safety of their use.

Cite: Gladis, M., Mesarcik, M., Slosiarova N., Advising AI assistant: ethical risks of Oura smart ring. AI and Ethics (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s43681-024-00544-0

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