AI: Some Problems to Address
July 28, 2018
Is all this really such a surprise? According to Quartz, “Tech Companies Just Woke Up to a Big Problem with Their AI.” Pointing to evidence of biased AIs and related legal actions against the likes of Microsoft, IBM, Google, Mozilla, Accenture, and “even Congress,” writer Dave Gershgorn ponders:
“It’s difficult to pin a reason on ‘why now?’ It could be the unexpected speed at which AI has become pervasive on tech platforms and in the real world, with demos of the disconcertingly-human-sounding Google Duplex and Amazon’s cashier-less Go store, where customers walk in, grab what they want, and walk out, with the entire affair monitored and recorded by cameras and computers. Or maybe it’s how big tech companies are suddenly seen as complicit in invasive national security projects with the US Department of Defense or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, contributing to the perception of a creeping police state. Or maybe the world is just becoming more tech-literate and conscious.”
The article supplies a list of recent announcements that support Gershgorn’s verdict. There are Google’s inclusion of checking for bias in its statement of AI principles, Congress’ assertion that tech companies must address the problem, and IBM and Microsoft’s facial-recognition technology adjustments, for example. See the write-up for more such developments. Gershgorn believes the AI industry to be undergoing a seismic shift, and we are as interested as he in where these issues go from here.
Cynthia Murrell, July 28, 2018
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