IFA iNternational 2019 DAY 4 Edition

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
CAN WE TRUST AI
TO RESPECT OUR
DEMOCRACY?
AI is all around us…
but mishandled,
it can be misleading…
What’s the solution?
To Mark Surman, the internet is the most
valuable resource for the public. The Executive
Director for the Mozilla Foundation wants to
ensure that it remains a source of information
for everyone in future, too. At the IFA + Summit,
he spoke in the “Society” cluster about the
essential role that Artificial Intelligence (AI)
plays in society. His keynote was entitled
“Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence: Want AI
that Doesn’t Undermine Democratic Society?
Start with Better Data!” We asked him about
the thinking behind his presentation.
Today, AI is all around
us – filtering our news,
recommending who we
date, and making decisions
about our finances and our
health. We need that AI to
put humans and humanity
first, especially when its
used by large consumer
tech platforms. To achieve
this, companies must take
more responsibility. I have
been looking at the need
for ‘healthier’ AI. Today,
the automated systems
built by big consumer tech
companies - like content
recommendation engines
- can misinform, polarise,
discriminate against, or
addict internet users. They
can also disrupt democratic
society. To solve this, we need
to look at the root problems:
massive centralisation in
the tech industry, opaque
algorithms, and the use of
biased data sets.
Tell us a little more about
your day-to-day work
I lead Mozilla, the global
community that does
everything from making
Firefox to advocating for
issues like net neutrality
and online privacy. My
work focuses on fuelling the
broader movement of people
and organizations who share
our values. So, providing
fellowships to like-minded
thinkers, publishing research
on the health of the internet,
and running advocacy
campaigns that keep Big Tech
accountable.
What are the biggest
challenges you can see for
the future?
Centralisation in the tech
industry - and the AI space
specifically - is a major
challenge.
AI is becoming more deeply
embedded in our lives: It
has a hand in who we date,
via dating app algorithms. It
curates what news we read,
via content recommendation
engines. And automated
systems fuelled by big
data make decisions about
our credit and our health.
Meanwhile, just a small
handful of companies in
the US and China dominate
the AI industry. Companies
like Facebook and Baidu
face little competition and
little oversight. Do we really
want so few to have so much
power?
If you get your news online,
if you watch videos on
YouTube, if you shop on
Amazon, if you’re applying
for a loan or a healthcare
policy online — then you’re
interacting with AI. And
chances are it’s not putting
your interests first.
How important do you feel
it is to have a gathering
together of thought leaders
such as this at the IFA+
Summit?
It’s important that IFA+
Summit is giving a platform
Mark Surman
Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation
WE NEED TO
LOOK AT THE ROOT
PROBLEMS: MASSIVE
CENTRALISATION IN
THE TECH INDUSTRY,
OPAQUE ALGORITHMS,
AND THE USE OF BIASED
DATA SETS
to internet health and
healthy AI. We need to
convene people from across
industry and civil society
and academia to think and
do things about these issues.
Better software, laws, and
mores can take shape at
gatherings like this
www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday 9 September 2019
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