Skip to main content

Oliver Walter's Response to Meeting with Sir Nigel Shadbolt


On June 29, 2017 Sir Nigel Shadbolt, a professor of computer science at the University of Oxford and the principal of Jesus College, discussed with the Summer Institute students his research on artificial intelligence. Through discussions and several articles students were able to better understand the concept of artificial intelligence and the different perspectives it entails. Below is a student's reflection on meeting with Sir Nigel Shadbolt and their class discussions. 

I was not too enthusiastic going into Thursday's meeting; I didn't feel like I knew enough about Artificial Intelligence or understood the computer science behind how these systems worked. To compensate for my shortcomings in knowledge about the science behind AI, I did some extra research about the legal and ethical challenges with the technology. In addition to talking about the science, Sir Nigel discussed many of the economic and legal implications AI has. In his discussion about jobs - which I connected to the most - he touched on a question that is becoming much more political: how will economies and governments react to the automatization of the workforce. He believed that the speed of progress in AI technology is not fast enough to quickly replace many jobs. He continued, by claiming that many jobs would be created after others are lost, but he mirrored other arguments like this one by not providing examples of what kind of jobs would be created. One critique I had of that argument is that the difference in skill needed between the jobs before and the jobs after AI is introduced is huge. For example, a trucker from a rural community would have a very hard time retraining as a server technician because of variables like reeducation cost and location. In addition to the points made by Sir Nigel, we had a discussion of our own about the appropriate amount of regulation for AI and general automization. I believe that regulation is important to protecting workers' rights, even if there are some negative economic side effects. In our discussion we also talked about historical examples of regulation during times of unparalleled economic growth, namely the Industrial Revolution. During that period there were flagrant violations of workers' rights and safety regulations in the name of economic benefit for factory owners and operators. I liked how Sir Nigel touched on many different applications for AI. He talked about everything from AlphaGo to automated cars and laid bare the technical and legal challenges facing AI projects of all sizes. Most interestingly to me, the moderator and him discussed the legal and ethical challenges facing technology that can program itself. One of the articles we read, titled "The Dark Secret at the Heart of AI" by Will Knight, revealed the challenges facing self-programming technology that can't "explain why it did what it did." (Knight, p.2). For this reason, and more, Sir Nigel made the prediction that the rate of change in AI technology will be slow as many more ethical and legal questions come about. Perhaps the most interesting thing he said the whole night was when he revealed the big question facing AI and automation: how to generalize specific machines and help them do things they were never intended to do. He said that machines which are trained to play go can't drive a car, and creating a way for a machine to transition would be a huge step towards more automization and more complicated AI technology. Overall, the discussion within our group and with Sir Nigel progressed my understanding of the technological, legal, and ethical achievements and obstacles facing AI. Most surprising to me, I was able to connect regulation of AI tomorrow to regulation of machines in the past, which gave me a better context into understanding one of the most important upcoming economic policy decisions facing the world.

- Oliver Walter
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Art, Activism, and Fran Meckler by Valerie Wu

On June 15, 2017 Fran Meckler, a documentary photographer, showcased her photo collection “Fading Traditions: Papua New Guinea in Color”. Students in the Summer Institute were able to meet with her and discuss how her photos were a method to bring injustices to light. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with Fran Meckler and her thoughts on photography as a way for advocacy. A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to interview Malak Shahin, the founder and editor-in-chief of Ascend Magazine , for an article I was writing on literary activism. Shahin is a Palestinian-American who cares deeply about effecting social change, especially in securing justice for Palestine. The goal of Ascend was to provide a creative space where art and protest could intersect. When I asked her whether she believed that art was inherently connected to activism, she responded with: “Art is a form of self-determination...giving people the resources to make art can, in some ways, be libera
Post a Comment
Read more

Elia Ching's Response to Meeting with Sir Nigel Shadbolt

On June 29, 2017 Sir Nigel Shadbolt, a professor of computer science at the University of Oxford and the principal of Jesus College, discussed with the Summer Institute students his research on artificial intelligence. Through discussions and several articles students were able to better understand the concept of artificial intelligence and the different perspectives it entails. Below is a student's reflection on meeting with Sir Nigel Shadbolt and their class discussions.  Last Thursday I was delighted to listen to Sir Nigel Shadbolt on the topic of artificial intelligence. I came into the meeting with a vague concept of the term, but the conference cleared up many things for me. Something that Sir Shadbolt clarified for me was the true definition of artificial “intelligence.” Although I thought some advanced AI systems seemed capable of sentience and emotion, that is not so. It is, and will always be incapable of making emotional and artistic choices; that is what differenti
Post a Comment
Read more

Sophie Alexis's Response to Meeting with Foreign Service Professionals

On June 22, 2017 Dorothy Ngutter, a Diplomat in Residence for the Northwest Region of the United States, and Evan G. Reade, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer came to World Affairs to discuss with the Summer Institute students their experiences working in the Foreign Service. Through several articles as well as discussions with the speakers, students were able to get a grasp on American diplomacy and the various career paths the Foreign Service can provide. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with the Foreign Service professionals and their class discussions.  Our discussion centered around several interesting questions, created by Group C. But there were two in particular that captured my interest: Has the United States’ significant diplomatic and military presence abroad since World War II had a net positive or negative effect? And, would it be a disadvantage to lose this presence or are there advantages to allowing other countries to forge the path forward?
Post a Comment
Read more