茄子直播

It's time to talk about living with AI, not just building it: 茄子直播 expert

茄子直播's Mark Kingwell to give a lecture on AI and ethics at U.K. alumni event
Photo of Sophia, a robot
Saudi Arabia created a buzz when it granted a robot named Sophia citizenship in the fall (photo by Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images)

It鈥檚 difficult for most of us to imagine a world where artificial intelligence, or AI, researchers succeed in populating the planet with intelligent non-human beings. Will they be our servants? Our friends and fellow citizens? Or will they, as Hollywood would have us believe, pursue a more sinister path?

Mark Kingwell, a professor of philosophy in the Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto, thinks deeply about these sorts of questions 鈥 though, for the record, he鈥檚 not worried about becoming robot fodder 鈥 and wishes more people would do the same. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 a great deal of money and attention being paid to what can be done with these algorithms," Kingwell says. "But there鈥檚 much less money and attention being paid to reflecting about what it means for us as humans, as well as culture and society, going forward.

鈥滻 don鈥檛 think it's presumptively negative, but I do think it needs to be part of the conversation.鈥

Kingwell, who says he first became interested in such science fiction-sounding scenarios as a teenager, will deliver a presentation titled "Humans and Artificial Intelligence 鈥 What Happens Next?" on Jan. 22 in London. for 茄子直播 alumni hosted in cities around the world, will be hosted by 茄子直播 President Meric Gertler.

While Toronto 鈥 and 茄子直播 鈥 is increasingly recognized as a hub of AI innovation thanks to initiatives like the Vector Institute, Kingwell's talk demonstrates the breadth of multidisciplinary talent 茄子直播 brings to the table when it comes to understanding the potentially far-reaching impacts of AI technologies, which are poised to reshape industries ranging from medicine to transportation.

Mark Kingwell, a 茄子直播 philosophy professor, says it's time to have a "humanistic" conversation about AI development (photo by Colin McConnell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

So what issues does Kingwell see on the horizon? 

At some point, he argues, we may have to decide whether AI-powered 鈥渂eings鈥 deserve rights and respect 鈥 a recognition we've historically been slow to bestow upon other groups, including, in the North American context, women and people of African descent. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not encouraging,鈥 Kingwell says of humanity鈥檚 collective track record in this area.

It鈥檚 a criticism that鈥檚 already being aimed at Saudi Arabia, which in the fall granted an interactive robot named Sophia citizenship. The move was widely dismissed as a publicity stunt by a country accused of mistreating migrant workers and waiting until this past September to lift a ban on female drivers. 

Kingwell acknowledges that it will probably be a long time before we encounter truly autonomous beings. But he stresses that ethical conundrums posed by automation and AI 鈥 which can already outperform humans in certain tasks 鈥 are already knocking on the door.

鈥淚鈥檓 flying to London on a very smart plane,鈥 he notes. 鈥淚t flies itself and can land itself. But what if the human pilot decides to override all that, is that actually okay?鈥

Medicine is another area where technological advances, including the use of AI to detect disease and evaluate treatment options, is bound to raise difficult questions. Asks Kingwell: 鈥淲ill it be making life and death decisions that we鈥檙e not comfortable with? Do we want humans to make those decisions? I鈥檓 not sure.鈥

Read more about AI at 茄子直播

Read about how the 茄子直播 Centre for Ethics is exploring the ethics of AI development

If the idea of granting a machine rights sounds crazy, Kingwell assures it鈥檚 not. 

鈥淎ny entity that has the rational capacity to make an ethical choice 鈥 that grants them a presumptive status and we have to recognize that,鈥 he argues.

And what if those sentient robots decide to do things we don鈥檛 want them to?

Kingwell likens the dilemma to parents who have children: 鈥淵ou create a child 鈥 a biological entity 鈥 that later achieves autonomy. That鈥檚 kind of a weird thing, but we don鈥檛 think of it as weird because it鈥檚 so common. But if you think about it, it is weird because you鈥檙e creating an entity that didn鈥檛 exist before and now it鈥檚 walking around and making autonomous decisions, doing things for good or ill. That鈥檚 something you did. You created that.鈥

The only difference with AI, Kingwell says, is the pace of development will be much quicker for AI beings and their conception will be handled by big corporations with the money and technological prowess to create a 鈥渘on-biological鈥 entity. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 another conversation we鈥檙e not having yet."

In the end, Kingwell argues any conversation about the emergence of AI is really a conversation about ourselves.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really raising questions about what it means to be human, rather than what it means to be artificial,鈥 he says. 

鈥淭hat, to me, is the interesting philosophical territory here.鈥

 

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