Is It Possible to Debias AI?

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

CNN's John Sutter shares an example of how thinking about AI helps you with thinking about human beings. A man went into a restaurant in order to hamburger cooked rare and when it arrived, it was burned to a crisp. The waitress stopped by the man's table; Is the burger okay, she asked? Oh, it's just great. He said, pushing back his chair and storming out of the restaurant without paying her. She shrugged her shoulders, muttering under her breath: Why is he so bent out of shape? And we know all those things instantly when we read the story. We know the man probably didn't eat the hamburger even though it's not said in

Computer Scientist and author Melanie Mitchell of Portland State University and the Santa Fe Institute talks about her book Artificial Intelligence with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Mitchell explains where we are today in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and where we might be going. Despite the hype and excitement surrounding AI, Mitchell argues that much of what is called "learning" and "intelligence" when done by machines is not analogous to human capabilities. The capabilities of machines are highly limited to explicit, narrow tasks with little transfer to similar but different challenges. Along the way, Mitchell explains some of the techniques used in AI and how progress has been made in many areas.