Tech Giants Team Up To Sell Artificial Intelligence To The Public Despite Dire Predictions
By Josie Wales
ActivistPost.com
SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
Technology powerhouses Microsoft, IBM, Facebook, Google, and Amazon announced yesterday they have joined forces to create the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Benefit People and Society.
According to their website, the non-profit organization was “[e]stablished to study and formulate best practices on AI technologies, to advance the public’s understanding of AI, and to serve as an open platform for discussion and engagement about AI and its influences on people and society.”
The non-profit’s website shows the coalition’s main goal is to show the public that these companies are conducting extensive research and developing Artificial Intelligence technology to benefit the people in an ethical manner. In order for people to want to purchase AI products when made available, they first have to trust the fundamental technology — and right now, not many people do.
It should come as no surprise that software programmed by humans, who are flawed, will reflect and even amplify those human flaws. The White House released a report in May highlighting the major potential for discrimination in “Big Data.” A quick look at the table of contents shows that mitigating discrimination is a challenge in every area. A report published by ProPublica showed risk assessment programs used by courtrooms across the nation turned up significant racial disparities, falsely labeling black defendants as future criminals at twice the rate of whites.
Though the public is skeptical of AI, most people are unaware of these shortcomings.
Even so, a poll conducted by the British Science Association shows “60 per cent think that the use of robots or programmes equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to fewer jobs within ten years, and 36 per cent of the public believe that the development of AI poses a threat to the long term survival of humanity.”
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