Need to Regulate Artificial Intelligence

The “Talks at Google” channel on YouTube interviews Yuval Noah Harari, macro-historian, Professor, best-selling author of "Sapiens" and "Homo Deus," and one of the world's most innovative and exciting thinkers. Harari discusses his newest work, "21 Lessons for the 21st Century."1

Described as a “truly mind-expanding” journey through today’s most pressing issues, "21 Lessons for the 21st Century" reminds us to maintain our collective focus in the midst of dizzying and disorienting change.

A quote from McKibben’s book points to the boundary that he considers for regulation.

To be clear, we already have achieved what the writer Tim Urban calls artificial narrow intelligence, sometimes referred to as “weak AI.”... You’ll be able to drink IPA’s for hours at your local tavern and the self-driving car will take you home - and it may well be able to recommend precisely which IPA’s you’d like the best. But it won’t be able to carry on an interesting discussion about whether this is the best course for your life. (McKibben p137) That next step up is artificial general intelligence, sometimes referred to as “strong AI “ That’s a computer “as smart as a human across the board, a machine that can perform any intellectual task a human can,” in Urban’s description.2

Yuval Noah Harari has contributed to the exploration of AI ethics through participation in “Talks at Google” This interview is also available as a podcast.3

Helen Lewis, writing a review for the Guardian, provides a summary of Harari’s style as a contrast to that of Jordan Peterson.

 It’s an unkind comparison, but I am compelled to return to Jordan Peterson. The two men are almost mirror-images: Harari is a vegan, while Peterson says that a beef-only diet is the best treatment for his depression. Both can sound like prophets. Harari advises that if you want to “know the truth about the universe ... the best place to start is by observing suffering and exploring what it is”, while Peterson tells readers: “Suffering is real, and the artful infliction of suffering on another, for its own sake, is wrong. That became the cornerstone of my belief.” And both men are treated as general all-purpose Clever People, rather than as academics with a particular specialism. They inhabit the high-altitude world of speaking tours and TED talks, repackaging their books into bite-sized chunks.4

McKibben’s concern about inequality resulting from the application of “strong AI” or Harari’s warning about the interface between biosensors and AI are flags that encourage us to discuss the ethical deployment of this technology to serve humanity rather than have humanity serve those who control the technology.

References

1	(2018, October 11). Yuval Noah Harari: "21 Lessons for the 21st Century" | Talks at .... Retrieved April 29, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw9P_ZXWDJU
2	McKibben, B. (2020). Falter: has the human game begun to play itself out? New York: Henry Holt and Company.
3	(n.d.). Talks at Google - Ep14 - Yuval Noah Harari: "21 Lessons for .... Retrieved April 29, 2020, from https://www.stitcher.com/s/?eid=57208899
4	(2018, August 15). 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari review .... Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/aug/15/21-lessons-for-the-21st-century-by-yuval-noah-harari-review