Empathy should shape AI so robots will ‘help us, not harvest us,’ Sundance panelist says

Empathy should shape AI so robots will ‘help us, not harvest us,’ Sundance panelist says

(Jacob Klopfenstein, KSL.com)


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PARK CITY — As artificial intelligence becomes more and more advanced — and more human-like — humans themselves are being tasked with figuring out what direction AI will take moving forward.

We as humans are in control of that technology and what it can do, said John Monos, director of digital technology startup Magic Leap.

“We’re actually at an important precipice right now where that’s happening,” he said. “And it’s important that we start having these conversations to start guiding it and shaping it to actually help us — not harvest us — for data and whatnot, so we can steer it into a direction where it does do positive things for humans”

Monos spoke at a panel titled “AI: I Love You” on Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City.

Also on the panel were producer Nell Whitley, artist Stephanie Dinkins and Google Empathy Lab founder Danielle Krettek. Virtual reality technology expert Bruce Wooden moderated the panel.

We’re in the middle of a paradigm shift as AI experts are diving deep into what it means to be human, Krettek said. Doing so is crucial in determining what shape AI will take in the future, she said.

One medium that can help us find those answers, Krettek argued, is film.

In Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” the humans eventually find a way to communicate with the aliens through light and music, she said.

“Because we’re emotional creatures, that’s how we connect,” she said. “Not just the math and science that got the aliens on to earth.”

Using a Marvel-inspired analogy, Krettek said the goal for AI should be not to create something akin to Jarvis, Tony Stark’s all-knowing, sentient assistance robot that’s built into his house, car and super-suit. Rather, it should be to build something like the “Iron Man” suit — something that works in conjunction with humans.

“How are you extending capabilities,” she said, “so that it is this really, kind of beautiful symbiotic relationship versus like this other thing you have to contend with?”

As more things are being made possible through technology, the next step is to figure out how it will help us better connect with each other, Dinkins said.

“All these possibilities are here,” she said. “How do we take the most advantage of this to help us really relate to each other better?”

Even though the possibilities are exciting, the panelists agreed that there is a lot to be done to keep AI technology in check.

Many of the major tech corporations have a version of their own AI — Apple has Siri, Amazon has Alexa, Krettek said. But since those are under the control of a company, they don’t feel as if they’re loyal to the people using them, she said.

“There’s this sea of AIs that does not feel like it’s within our control,” she said.

The technology needs to get to a place where users can take ownership of the AI they’re using, so they will be loyal to the user, Krettek added.

Data privacy is a big part of that conversation, Monos said. People should be mindful of where their data is coming from, what is happening to it and who else has access to it, he said.

There should be 100 percent accountability for any person who builds or develops any part of new AI technology, Krettek said.

“That should be distributed accountability to every part of the pipeline or every aspect of what you’re collectively building as a tool, so there’s lots of checks and balances,” Whitley said.

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