AI ON THE GROUND
AI ON THE GROUND Madeleine Clare Elish describes herself as a cultural anthropologist whose work examines the social impacts of AI and automation on society. As Research Lead and co-founder of the AI on the Ground Initiative at Data & Society, she works to inform the ethical design, use, and governance of AI systems through the application of social science research and humancentred ethnographic perspectives. At the IFA+ Summit, she will be talking about the complex and often surprising dynamics of human-AI collaboration. We asked her to tell us a little more about her day-to-day work. I lead the AI on the Ground Initiative at Data & Society, a non-profit research institute in New York focused on thorny issues at the intersection of technology and society. The AI on the Ground Initiative at Data & Society focuses on the development, use, and assessment of AI by the people who shape new AI systems and policies. Centring social science research, our goal is to develop robust analyses of AI systems that can effectively inform design, use, and governance. How do you see AI changing our lives in the future? Artificial intelligence will improve many aspects of everyday life, but also is implicated in rising social inequality, the concentration of corporate power, and the curtailing of individual autonomy. Who should come to your talk? Designers, executives, entrepreneurs and industry analysts who want to learn more about how to apply ethical, human-centred principles to developing and implementing AI. What are your thoughts on the concept of the IFA+ Summit in general? I am looking forward to being a part of the historic IFA convention and learning from the other amazing speakers at the IFA+ Summit MORAL CRUMPLE ZONES: CAUTIONARY TALES IN HUMAN- ROBOT INTERACTION Date: Today, Monday 9 September Time: 11:00 am Location: Hall 26b - GRAND THEATRE Madeleine Clare Elish Research Lead and co-founder of the AI on the Ground Initiative at Data & Society OUR GOAL IS TO DEVELOP ROBUST ANALYSES OF AI SYSTEMS IN SEARCH OF ETHICAL AI Casu Canca Founder and Director, AI Ethics Lab EVERYONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT ETHICS Cansu Canca was one of the guests at Sunday’s IFA+ Summit sessions, delivering a speech entitled Ethical AI: Everyone Wants It, No One Has It. We asked the AI Ethics Lab Founder and Director about the ideas behind her presentation. My work is about how to create ethical AI. In AI Ethics Lab, we developed a model for achieving this within institutions, whether they are private companies or public research entities. Our ERD model (Ethics in R&D model) focuses on three key aspects of the AI research, development, design, and deployment processes: Training developers and scientists in ethics, embedding ethics analysis within the product design and development process, and developing institutional principles and processes for recurrent ethical problems. Can you tell us a little about the role of the AI Ethics Lab? Everyone wants to talk about ethics and run projects on it but no one seems to realise that this requires expertise in this field called Philosophy. What still distinguishes the Lab is the expertise. It is of utmost importance to me to have the right experts in each and every project. That means the Lab’s work involves philosophers, computer scientists, legal experts, and others. How do the issues at stake vary across cultures and regions? Each region and country has its own concerns due to their culture, history, and political situation. However, this does not mean that the core problems differ. Concerns for privacy, individual decision-making, well-being, and fairness hold regardless of your trust in your government or the composition of your society. Their demands and their importance vary depending on the exact circumstances that these concerns come into existence. For that reason, a real ethical analysis is case-based and cannot be summed up in a list of principles or checklists 20
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS TO PREPARE FOR AN INTELLIGENT FUTURE At the University of Waterloo, the 16-year-old Canadian Shalev Lifshitz is conducting research to further the AI community’s efforts in reaching human-level AI by developing new Artificial Neural Networks that aim to behave more like the human brain. His presentation at the IFA + Summit will no doubt raise a few eyebrows for several reasons. We asked him to tell us more: Intelligence and the human brain have always fascinated me. How do humans learn? Do we run on some type of learning algorithm? What is it and how does it work? The best way to understand something is by creating it. Thus, creating Intelligence as a means to understand Intelligence made sense to me. I believe we are on the brink of a biological and industrial revolution and Artificial Intelligence is at its core. How must we prepare and what changes will this transformation bring? My goal is to pave the way towards human-level AI while ensuring that we ask the right questions and prepare for our intelligent future. I will outline the work being done to achieve human-level AI and discuss what we must do to ensure a positive future for humanity. Some of the questions discussed will include: What is human-level AI? How far are we from human-level AI? How are we getting there? Why is human-level AI exciting? Should we be wary of it? These are the questions we must ask to ensure a positive future for humanity alongside AI! Who should come to your talk? Anyone hoping to play a part in or understand AI’s future impact on society. Those interested in the future of humanity and AI, come out to my talk! I would love to speak with you! HUMANITY & AI: PREPARING FOR AN INTELLIGENT FUTURE Date: Today, Monday 9 September Time: 11:00 am Location: Hall 26b - GRAND THEATRE Shalev Lifshitz Student at the University of Waterloo www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday 9 September 2019 21
