Nowadays, almost every single aspect of our lives is directly or indirectly related to Artificial Intelligence (AI). From surfing on the web to complex industrial processes, everything depends on autonomous machines. However, some researchers warn that this could be risky, since even scientists do not know very well how AI works.

In a recent article published on online magazine Business Insider, researcher Will Knight explained this situation. According to him, “as the technology advances, we might soon cross some threshold beyond which using AI requires a leap of faith”.

“Sure, we humans can't always truly explain our thought processes either—but we find ways to intuitively trust and gauge people”, Mr Knight expressed. “Will that also be possible with machines that think and make decisions differently from the way a human would? We've never before built machines that operate in ways their creators don't understand”, he added.

Mr Knight also affirmed that, since the first development of AI devices, there have been two “schools of thought” about the way AI should be. The first one states that it should operate “according to rules and logic, making their inner workings transparent to anyone who cared to examine some code”. In contrast, the second school proposes that machines must take “inspiration from biology, and learn by observing and experiencing”. And, in his opinion, “the machine-learning techniques that would later evolve into today's most powerful AI systems followed the latter path: the machine essentially programs itself”, he asserted.

“Just as many aspects of human behaviour are impossible to explain in detail, perhaps it won't be possible for AI to explain everything it does”, Mr Knight wrote. “If that's so, then at some stage we may have to simply trust AI's judgment or do without using it. Likewise, that judgment will have to incorporate social intelligence. Just as society is built upon a contract of expected behavior, we will need to design AI systems to respect and fit with our social norms”, he continued.

Draw your own conclusions…

For more information: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-dark-secret-at-the-heart-of-artificial-intelligence-2017-4