MIT Media Lab to Participate in $27M Initiative on AI Ethics and Governance
January 11, 2017 | MITEstimated reading time: 5 minutes
The Berkman Klein Center has been working to develop public interest-oriented solutions to many of the challenges of the digital age, incubating programs such as Creative Commons and the Digital Public Library of America. And, it is currently collaborating with the Media Lab on the “Assembly” program, which gathers high-level developers and tech industry professionals for a rigorous three-week course at Harvard University, followed by a 12-week collaborative development period to explore difficult problems in cybersecurity.
“The thread running through these otherwise disparate phenomena is a shift of reasoning and judgment away from people," says Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of the Berkman Klein Center and professor of law and computer science at Harvard University. “Sometimes that's good, as it can free us up for other pursuits and for deeper undertakings. And sometimes it’s profoundly worrisome, as it decouples big decisions from human understanding and accountability. A lot of our work in this area will be to identify and cultivate technologies and practices that promote human autonomy and dignity rather than diminish it.”
The Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund will be governed by a small board, consisting of leadership from each participating foundation and institution. In addition, the board is in the process of selecting a group of expert advisors, which would include Daniela Rus, Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor Electrical Engineering and director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) along with Max Tegmark, professor of physics at MIT and co-founder of the Future of Life Institute, as well as a number of other individuals from a wide range of disciplines and organizations.
Ito says that convening all perspectives now is essential. “Instead of setting up an institution, we've decided to create a dynamic network. There are a number of areas where the deployment of machine learning is already starting to pose questions that are best answered in an interdisciplinary way. This project that we're all embarking on is just the beginning.”
MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito discusses the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence. Video: MIT Media Lab
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