MET@Alleyn’s AI Ethics

This week in the MET@Alleyn’s series, our guest speakers, Madeleine Waller and Gabriele La Malfa, Ph.D student at Kings College London, delivered a thought-provoking presentation on the future of AI and the challenges in eliminating bias in Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems.

Their insights sparked engaging questions from our students, fostering a dynamic conversation on the topic. Our students challenged ideas around moral machines and engaged in discussion surrounding the plausibility of coding for diversity in medical AI, and what the legality around accidents involving self-driving cars would be. Given that the information that AI uses is fed through data sets and coding created by humans, could we have completely unbiased data- a perfect data set?

The idea of a future led by AI took what some may deem as a sci-fi turn, as they explored ideas around unregulated AI systems. One student posited the idea that AI could develop faster than humans can manage and leave humans in a dystopian future with an Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI). Countering this was the argument that there are very uniquely human elements to intelligence, empathy for example, as well as the vast amounts of data and coding that would be required, that leave the idea of a super intelligence in the realm of fiction for the foreseeable future.

What will the future of AI look like? It is left to be seen, but actively participating in discussions with persons at the forefront of the thinking around AI, presents our students with the opportunity to be a part of an evolving dialogue.