Artificial Intelligence: Here to Help
A lot of recent media reports have been highlighting negative impacts of artificial intelligence systems on society (loss of jobs, super AI, killer robots). Those things certainly get your attention. However a new report (March 2017) by the Computing Community Consortium describes the potential benefits of AI. "Artificial Intelligence for Social Good" is a summary of a workshop that was held last year with examples of the promise of AI in urban computing, sustainability, health care, and public welfare. The report describes current case study examples and offers tantalizing glimpses of a rosy future--"The easier it becomes for people to move about, the more vibrant our urban areas will be; likewise, the more fruitful the social and economic interactions that take place inside them will be." Really?
Sorry, I am a skeptic. How do I get from self-driving Uber to more equitable access to transportation in urban areas? How does easier access to transportation lead to "a more vibrant" urban area? I think this is really the key point of where we are right now in research needs--the great gap in knowledge is to understand how AI/robotic tech will actually deploy into and impact society. Could you simulate right now what the impact of 10% penetration of self-driving, publically accessible vehicles into the Lawrence Metropolitan Statistical Area would be? Who would ride in them? What parts of the local economy would be affected? Who would own them? How would it affect legacy transit modes--buses, bikes, personal cars, taxis? What demands would it put on public services? The report says we need more pilot studies. Any takers?
Sorry, I am a skeptic. How do I get from self-driving Uber to more equitable access to transportation in urban areas? How does easier access to transportation lead to "a more vibrant" urban area? I think this is really the key point of where we are right now in research needs--the great gap in knowledge is to understand how AI/robotic tech will actually deploy into and impact society. Could you simulate right now what the impact of 10% penetration of self-driving, publically accessible vehicles into the Lawrence Metropolitan Statistical Area would be? Who would ride in them? What parts of the local economy would be affected? Who would own them? How would it affect legacy transit modes--buses, bikes, personal cars, taxis? What demands would it put on public services? The report says we need more pilot studies. Any takers?
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