Issues

Did You Protest Recently? Your Face Might Be in a Database

“Are the police definitely using facial recognition right now to track protesters? Nobody knows.” — Evan Selinger, Professor of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology
Evan Selinger
Source: The Guardian
July 17, 2020

What We Owe Essential Workers

“When technology makes labor critical to the production process, workers’ bargaining power will necessarily increase.” — Daron Acemoglu, Professor of Economocs, MIT
Daron Acemoglu
Source: Project Syndicate
July 6, 2020

Some Workers Hate Robots. Retraining May Change That.

"The biggest barrier to getting technology rolled out is the organizational resistance to adoption. So companies need a strategy not only for how to get it to work, but also how to get the work force behind getting it rolled out." — Erik Brynjolfsson, Professor of Economics, MIT

Erik Brynjolfsson
Source: The New York Times
July 19, 2019

The Great Productivity Slowdown

This article asks why the current era of unprecedented innovation is not seeing major gains in productivity. MIT economist and artificial intelligence expert Erik Brynjolfsson is quoted.

Erik Brynjolfsson
Source: Global Finance
June 5, 2019

New Laws of Robotics Needed to Tackle AI: Expert

Frank Pasquale, University of Maryland law professor and artificial intelligence (AI) expert, shares his thoughts on four new legally-inspired rules that should be applied to robots and AI in our daily lives.

Frank Pasquale
Source: AFP/ Yahoo News
May 16, 2019

'Disastrous' Lack of Diversity in AI Industry Perpetuates Bias, Study Finds

"The industry has to acknowledge the gravity of the situation and admit that its existing methods have failed to address these problems. The use of AI systems for the classification, detection, and prediction of race and gender is in urgent need of re-evaluation." — Kate Crawford, Co-director and Co-founder, AI Now Institute

Kate Crawford
Source: The Guardian
April 16, 2019

We're Not Prepared for the Promise of Artificial Intelligence, Experts Warn

"We're trying to grapple with big questions that no discipline has monopoly over. What we want to do is make sure we get the greatest minds studying these questions." — Susan Athey, Professor of the Economics of Technology, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Susan Athey
Source: The Mercury News
March 18, 2019

We're Not Prepared for the Promise of Artificial Intelligence, Experts Warn

"The problem is that human skills, human institutions, business processes change much more slowly than technology does. We're not keeping up. That's why this human-centered AI initiative is so important. How can we adapt our economics, our laws, our societies? Otherwise, we're going to be facing more of the unintended consequences." — Erik Brynjolfsson, Director, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy

Erik Brynjolfsson
Source: The Mercury News
March 18, 2019

Trump’s Plan to Keep America First in AI

"Are they aware enough of its social impacts and thinking about the effects on society and how to address the problems it creates? That’s what we have to watch for." — Ryan Calo, Professor of Law, University of Washington

M. Ryan Calo
Source: Wired
February 11, 2019

Trump to Launch Artificial Intelligence Initiative, But Many Details Lacking

"The White House’s latest executive order correctly highlights AI as a major priority for U.S. policymaking." — Kate Crawford, Co-Director, AI Now

Kate Crawford
Source: Science
February 11, 2019