Human Ideal Centered AI Design (Part II)

AI Pioneer Stuart Russell, in this seminal TED Talk, postulates a philosophical yet pragmatic framework for how to build intelligent systems to be better than us. Russell, who has literally written the book on AI design, advocates for building systems that are:

Altruistic

Humble

and maximize human values

The first two are interesting, but the “last law of AI,” spurs a mind-blowing discussion.

For if we built intelligent systems to replicate us we definitely will have failed and sealed our fate to that dystopian future displayed in tech-gone-wrong-novels like Brave New World.

But if we break free of all that is naturally human; that is if we design beyond our humanity then we will have achieved a world filled with intelligent systems augmenting, nay completely transforming, our world.

Sadly, we are not going in this direction. In fact, many current AI technology in use today falls way short of this ideal. And tragically we are designing intelligent systems that are infused with everything that is wrong with us — racism, sexism, classism, bias and more. Let’s delve deeper.

Human Centered Does Not Mean Human Nature

So what is Stuart Russell actually talking about when he says AI should maximize human values; values he says must never be explicitly known to the system but followed. Huh?