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Barack Obama, Neural Nets, Self-Driving Cars, and the Future of the World
Article

Barack Obama, Neural Nets, Self-Driving Cars, and the Future of the World

The President in Conversation with MIT’s Joi Ito and Wired’s Scott Dadich

Wired, 2016

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Editorial Rating

10

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Visionary
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Scott Dadich’s article provides a rare opportunity to learn from the perspectives of two major proponents of artificial intelligence (AI): former US president Barack Obama and accomplished MIT professor and director of the MIT Media Lab, Joi Ito. Written in transcript form, the article captures an honest, practical conversation among the author, Obama and Ito as they examine sociopolitical issues associated with AI and their proposed solutions. getAbstract recommends this analysis to anyone concerned about the intersection of AI with the economy, politics and society.

Summary

Any development of artificial intelligence (AI) will explicitly or implicitly incorporate the ethical values and judgments of its creators. These imported values must undergo examination to ensure they produce safe and fair systems for all members of society. The exemplar is the self-driving car, which takes actions that directly affect the safety of the car’s passengers, as well as of other cars and pedestrians – including choices considered ethical if made by humans. AI technology will inevitably face “lose-lose situations” in which the car&#...

About the Authors

Editor in chief of Wired, Scott Dadich authors and edits articles about current events and issues pertaining to science, technology, design and culture.