Event at Technology Policy Institute looked at economic and policy implications of artificial intelligence

The Washington-DC based Technology Policy Institute organised an event on 12 September assessing the policy implications of artificial intelligence. The keynote address was held by Susan Athey from the Stanford University who summarised the current mainstream discourse on benefits and risks of artifical intelligence (AI) – having consulted in a number of companies and the governmental sector, she was able to bring a number of practical examples, including arguments from the health care sector: should you bother (or is it economical) to go for a hip replacement if you are – based on data available – likely to die in the next year?. The most controversial remarks came from Kris Hammond from Nortwestern University who did not hide his disbelief in humans and our capacity to interpret data. Jenn Vaughan from Microsoft argued for discovering the hybrid intelligence combining the advantages and complementary strengths of both humans and machines. While many critics of AI fear the social implications, she explained that any project with humans in the loop obviously has social implications. Videos from the event are available.