Beneficial AI: the next battlefield

Abstract

When planting our human print in a new technology-driven world we should ask, remembering Neil Armstrong in 1969, “after many small steps for AI researchers, will it result in a giant leap in the unknown for mankind?” An “Artificial Intelligence-first” world is being preached all over the media by many responsible players in economic and scientific communities.

This letter states our belief in AI potentialities, including its major and decisive role in computer science and engineering, while warning against the current hyping of its near future. Although quite excited by several recent interesting revelations about the future of AI, we here argue in favor of a more cautious interpretation of the current and future AI-based systems potential outreach.

We also include some personal perspectives on simple remedies to preventing recognized possible dangers. We advocate a set of practices and principles that may prevent the development of AI-based systems prone to be misused.

Accountable “Data curators”, appropriate Software Engineering specification methods, the inclusion, when needed, of the “human in the loop”, software agents with emotion-like states might be important factors leading to more secure AI-based systems.

Moreover, to inseminate ART in Artificial Intelligence, ART standing for Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency, becomes also mandatory for trustworthy AI-based systems.

This letter is an abbreviation of a more substantial article to be published in IJCA journal.