Scheutz on ethics in AI

Whether it’s through debates about ChatGPT or as the antagonist of dystopian sci-fi movies, artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm. However, these rapid advancements beg the question: how much is too much when it comes to AI?

The US Department of State recently sponsored a Foreign Press Centers Tour, during which fifteen foreign journalists visited various sites related to technology policy and artificial intelligence. Karol Family Applied Technology Professor Matthias Scheutz of the Department of Computer Science at Tufts was selected for a media visit during the tour to speak with the journalists about ethics in artificial intelligence. Scheutz shared his expertise regarding the current trajectory and ramifications of artificial intelligence with the group of visiting journalists.

Tufts School of Engineering is a leader in the ever-growing field of artificial intelligence, and Scheutz is at the forefront of efforts to provide ethical constraints that ensure AI technology is both safe and advantageous to society. During the media visit, he warned the journalists that without integrating ethics into artificial intelligence, the fast-learning nature of AI could lead to unintended consequences. Scheutz believes that programmers need to do more than create an “emergency button” for AI systems. Instead, the systems need to be taught ethical guidelines. He says, “Al systems need to be designed from the ground up with ethical provisions that include representations of social and moral norms, ethical principles, and laws that the system cannot ignore,” according to an article from one of the visiting journalists.

The journalists visited sites in Boston, Washington D.C., and Detroit with the goal of understanding the nuances of recent technological advancements and their integration into the marketplace. Scheutz was selected as a stop on their tour due to his leadership in the areas of AI and human-robot interaction and his particular focus on incorporating ethics into technology.  

More details are available in the original article at https://www.brecorder.com/news/40262254.