Guidelines for journalists and editors about reporting on robots, AI, and computers

I’m eager to promote accurate reporting about advanced technologies, especially those involving robots, AI, and computers. Most journalists and editors provide accurate and valuable reports on advanced technologies, however, misleading representations have long been a problem. In the 1940s, as modern electronic digital computers emerged, the descriptions included “awesome thinking machines” and “electronic brains.” Prof. Dianne Martin’s extensive review of survey data (CACM, 1993) summarizes her concern:

The attitude research conducted over the past 25 years suggests that the “awesome thinking machine” myth may have in fact retarded public acceptance of computers in the work environment, at the same time that it raised unrealistic expectations for easy solutions to difficult social problems.

The promotion of thinking machines continued with Newsweek’s June 30, 1980 cover “Machines that Think” and then TIME magazine’s December 1982 cover with the personal computer replacing the man of the year as “Machine of the Year”. TIME continued with the March 25, 1996 cover “Can Machines Think?”

My concern is that media headlines, articles, and photos suggest that computers, especially robots and AI: