The Humanity of Artificial Intelligence

If artificial intelligence (AI) is the brain—or logic—of an autonomous system, then machine intelligence (MI) is its arms and legs. We use these analogies because AI and MI are human pursuits—machine values will come from human values. We just need a system of checks and balances to make sure they stay that way.

Applications of AI and MI throughout the past 20 years prove that the risks can be mitigated. There are no stories of Google’s search engine, text message auto-complete, or airline autopilot becoming sentient and going rogue. 

These technologies are major economic drivers. They will increase efficiencies, amplify productivity, uncover new insights and opportunities, and speed the time from innovative idea to value creation. This will not only transform individual businesses, but it will also transform economies because the force of AI and MI is so disruptive that old ways of doing business will no longer allow organizations to remain profitable.

Let’s think of AI and MI technologies as experiments on humans—on our society. The companies and organizations that build and deploy these systems are experimenting on us, on how we interact with cyber systems, and how we adapt the way we work and live and commute; how we gather information and make decisions—how we do almost everything. This grand experiment needs a set of rules. That’s why we need to follow universally accepted principles of safe and beneficial human subject research:

• Respect for humans (informed consent)
• Beneficence (do no harm, assess risks versus benefits); and
• Justice (equitable distribution of the risks, benefits, and rewards from the application)

National policy and strategy should support, enable, and empower innovation and economic development around AI and MI in every way possible. We just have to keep a human eye on it all.