AI & Society

U.S. Lax on Face Recognition

A U.S. government watchdog agency called for stronger face recognition protocols for federal agencies.What’s new: An audit of federal agencies by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that, while many employ face recognition, they may not know

Meet the New Smart-Cities Champ

Chinese researchers for the first time swept a competition to develop AI systems that monitor urban traffic. What’s new: Chinese universities and companies won first and second place in all five categories of the 2021 AI City Challenge,

When Algorithms Manage Humans

Some delivery drivers fired by Amazon contend that the retailer’s automated management system played an unfair role in terminating their employment. What’s new: Drivers in Amazon Flex, an Uber-like program that enables

The New Space Race

I’ve been following with excitement the recent progress in space launches. Earlier this week, Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic team flew a rocket plane 53 miles up, earning him astronaut wings. Next week, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is

Is Ethical AI an Oxymoron?

Many people both outside and inside the tech industry believe that AI will serve mostly to boost profits and monitor people — without regard for negative consequences.

The Problem With the EU’s Moratorium on Face Recognition

Last week brought reports that the European Union is considering a three- to five-year moratorium on face recognition in public places. Face recognition is a problematic technology with significant potential for misuse, and I celebrate the

Deadly Drones Act Alone

Autonomous weapons are often viewed as an alarming potential consequence of advances in AI — but they may already have been used in combat. What’s new: Libyan forces unleashed armed drones capable of choosing their

The Coming Crackdown

The European Union proposed sweeping restrictions on AI technologies and applications. What’s new: The executive arm of the 27-nation EU published draft rules that

Can Tech Regain the Public’s Trust?

Each year, the public relations agency Edelman produces a report on the online public’s trust in social institutions like government, media, and business. The latest Edelman Trust Barometer contains a worrisome finding: While technology was ranked the most trusted industry

Trading on AI: The GameStop Phenomenon

The price of shares in video game retailer GameStop (NYSE: GME) gyrated wildly last week. Many people viewed the stock’s rapid ascent as a David-versus-Goliath story: Tech-savvy individual retail investors coordinated their trades online to push up the price

How AI Can Strengthen Democracy

Last Wednesday, the U.S. Capitol building was overrun by insurrectionists at the moment when members of Congress were certifying the results of a national election. Reading accounts of how close the mob came to where those representatives had sheltered

AI Concentrates Power and Wealth

In my letter last week, I alluded to the way AI tends to concentrate power and wealth. This tendency worries me, and I believe it deserves more attention. The U.S. government has been looking into these winner-take-most dynamics at a few leading technology companies

Happy New Year! Three Aspirations for AI in 2021

Happy New Year! As we enter 2021, I want to share with you three wishes I have for AI in the upcoming year. I hope we can: Narrow the gap between proofs-of-concept and production. While building good models is important, many organizations now realize

Values for the AI Community, Part 3: Ethical AI

Like many people in the AI community, I am saddened by the sudden departure from Google of ethical AI researcher Timnit Gebru. Timnit is a tireless champion of diversity and fairness in AI.

Coding AI is the New Literacy

Today we take it for granted that many people know how to read and write. Someday, I hope, it will be just as common that people know how to write code. Several hundred years ago, society didn’t view language literacy as a necessary skill.