More Than Robots
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and algorithmic decision-making are rapidly changing the web, our culture and the way we work . Whilst the implications are huge, the rise of the robots has been less dramatic than sci-fi blockbusters led us to believe.
So far, the robot takeover has been incremental, invisible and generally quite banal — driverless cars and slaughterbots aside. Search is smarter, social is better connected and complex data is sorted quicker. But replicants and R2-D2 haven’t really arrived en masse.
Reading the news today, it feels like the ‘robotic’ future is now much better understood — and arriving very quickly.
However, the rapid advances in research, the application of technology in more areas of our lives, and the huge investment behind it all, are pushing real AI into the light and the impacts are being felt more keenly. Reading the news today, it feels like the ‘robotic’ future is now much better understood — and arriving very quickly.
Max Tegmark, scientist, author and founder of the Future of Life Institute, makes a compelling case for the need for AI safety research and to clearly articulate the human values we want AI to embody. His assertion is that without both of these in place the robots are very likely to take control — and not in the helpful ways we would like.
From disturbing and offensive algorithmic creations, to exploitation of crises and biased predictive policing we are beginning to see the many consequences of applying machine made decisions to people — and, as in most cases, children are disproportionately affected. It is today's children who will learn, work, participate in and protest against tomorrow's AI future — if they are able to. But it is also children who are most likely to be left out of machine-led decision making right now.
It is today’s children who will learn, work, participate in and protest against tomorrow’s AI future
If we acknowledge that data bias and poor design can lead to harmful AI and that children are most likely to be affected by AI, then the question naturally arises: how can children’s rights, views and needs be integrated into AI data, design and accountability?
Many organisations are now stepping up to tackle the complex moral, rights and safety issues that AI brings. In fact, research from the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute and others identifies AI as the most urgent global issue to tackle.
However, research and initiatives in this area are often shaped around adult perspectives and needs. There seems to be less understanding or focus on children’s rights and how children could play a meaningful role in shaping their future.
If we are careless or unprepared then we will create conditions that reduce people to robots or we will miss the chance to create conditions in which everyone can thrive.
If, on the other hand, we create AI that is wise enough to respect children’s rights, the data we use is not biased against children, and we enable young people to participate in the design, then AI offers many positive opportunities and a future that is much more than robots.
What to do…
How can individuals, schools and organisations nurture learning, improve services and innovate to create more positive, child centred outcomes for AI?
I have been considering some practical ways to help children avoid becoming robots or being ruled by them. I would really welcome your thoughts, better ideas and any examples of good things in action.
Perhaps our best defence against the dark arts of the robots is dance…
Child focussed AI ethics
The Asilomar principles provide a fantastic basis for the ethics and values that should underpin all AI development. Whilst many of the values are universal, I think a specific set of ethics and values for children — more closely aligned to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) — would help identify gaps and raise the specific implications of AI on children.
Minimum standards for AI applications
An output of these values may be some practical standards that can be applied in the design, training, deployment and regulation of AI — particularly applications that very directly impact children. For example: pre-emptive health interventions, education assessment and social care decisions.
Similar “safe by design” standards and calls for parity of protection online already exist for the web as it is now. The challenge is updating or creating standards that account for the AI led world that is emerging..
Digital literacy /digital citizenship
As AI becomes more advanced the way it works will become more frictionless and the decisions it makes about/for us will become increasingly opaque. Whilst learning to code will not necessarily enable children to create their own AI systems, a good understand of how algorithms work will help demystify some aspects. The current CS curriculum in England and other initiatives are delivering many of these opportunities and skills. However, technical understanding and competency needs to be applied to everyday life. I feel we need to find better ways to support children, parents/carers and teachers to understand and interpret the complex economic, cultural and personal ways emerging technology impacts us and our rights.
Arts and culture
In a future of rational, uber efficient, intelligent machines it will be easy to be out-competed by AI in the workplace — and in life in general.
Perhaps our best defence against the dark arts of the robots is dance… and poetry and comedy and art. If we are to thrive in the future, we should invest in the things AI struggle to do well.
Helping children nurture their empathy, unlock their creativity and have confidence in their silliness are essential parts of education. These talents, that are so undervalued now, may well become highly prized in an increasingly automated world.
