AI is too powerful for engineers to handle alone, is one of the conclusions of a study into autonomous systems and humanity people by the University of Texas at Austin. Instead, future designs must be guided by a broad range of societal stakeholders.
Over 100 US autonomy experts were involved, whose work has been pulled together in a report (see below), commissioned by the Computing Community Consortium (CCC).
“The management of autonomous systems needs to be at the crossing of science, technology, society, policy and governance,” said engineer Ufuk Topcu of Texas’ Oden institute for computational engineering and sciences, who led the research.
“Science and technology have always disrupted the status quo, but these systems are different from earlier technologies,” according to the report. “Replacing humans and human intelligence with machines and machine intelligence is replacing within existing frameworks of laws, ethics, morality, norms, as well as an existing technology.”
A technical flaw in the software of an autonomous system, for example, can’t only be seen as a bug. “That bug could be a potential violation of law and/or morality,” said Topcu. “Autonomy is a socioeconomic opportunity as well as a challenge, and the public will both perceive and be affected by it unevenly.”
The core recommendation of the report is the creation of a network of institutes that can easily share ideas, concerns and, ultimately, develop a regulatory and quality assurance framework that underpins future advancements.
The CCC has called for the implementation of a national research strategy for assurance with stakeholders in government, academia, industry and society all playing their part.
“Autonomous systems are not just engineering marvels. They have an influence on individuals, groups, and even the culture as a whole,” said Art Markman of the University of Texas’ college of liberal arts. “Engaging experts from a range of disciplines, including the humanities and the social and behavioural sciences, will be a crucial step to avoid unintended consequences of the deployment of new technologies.”
It is time to “stretch our interdisciplinary thinking beyond the STEM fields”, according to Oden Institute director Karen Willcox. “Autonomy is a prime example of a domain where the interdisciplinary approaches of computational science – weaving together rigorous mathematical modelling with advanced computing and domain expertise – will play a critical role in developing better, safer systems, but there is an urgent need to build deep collaborations in research and education with humanists and social scientists.”
The report ‘Assured autonomy: Path toward living with autonomous systems we can trust‘ (click ‘PDF’, top right) is available in full without payment. It is the product of several workshops facilitated by Topcu and participating members of the CCC from Arizona State University, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, MIT and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Source: electronicsweekly
