AI requires 'parenting' to ensure our survival, says expert
What's the story
De Kai, a leading machine learning scientist and AI ethics advocate, suggests that the framing of AI development as a US-China tech race fundamentally misunderstands the technology.
He describes AI's impact on the social climate as an "AI climate change challenge," which requires careful consideration for our future.
To note, Kai teaches computer science and engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
Influence
AI's impact on society
De Kai has been at the forefront of AI research for four decades.
He started his career in natural language processing during his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in the early 1980s.
In an interview with The South China Morning Post, he said that "AI is a change to the [social] climate that humanity is competing in."
AI stewardship
Major shift in perspective needed
In his recently published book, Raising AI: An Essential Guide to Parenting Our Future, De Kai suggests that living with AI calls for a major shift in perspective.
He proposes that we should "parent" these systems like our own children.
This is because, as he notes, "Having kids... makes them most want to become better versions of themselves."
Ethical implications
Need to be careful about behavior around 'AI children'
De Kai is worried that since AI learns by taking in everything we do and say online, we need to be careful about our behavior around these "AI children."
This concern isn't new for him. He has previously served on The Future Society board and was an inaugural member of Google's now-defunct AI ethics council.