Welcome to AI book reviews, a series of posts that explore the latest literature on artificial intelligence. When discussing the threats of artificial intelligence, the first thing that comes to mind are images of Skynet, The Matrix, and the robot apocalypse. The runner up is technological unemployment, the vision of a foreseeable future in which AI algorithms take over all jobs and push humans into a struggle for meaningless survival in a world where human labor is no longer needed. Whether any or both of those threats are real is hotly debated among scientists and thought leaders. But AI algorithms also pose more imminent threats that exist today, in ways that are less conspicuous and hardly understood.

Google warned on Thursday that the EU's definition of artificial intelligence was too broad and that Brussels must refrain from over-regulating a crucial technology. The search and advertising giant made its argument in feedback to the European Commission, the EU's powerful regulator that has reached out to big tech as it draws up ways to set new rules for AI. The EU has not decided yet on how to regulate AI, but is putting most of its focus on what it calls "high risk" sectors, such as healthcare and transport. It's plans, to be spearheaded by EU commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton, are not expected until the end of the year. "A clear and widely understood definition of AI will be a critical foundational element for an effective AI regulatory framework," the company said in its 45-page submission.

There is a growing consensus that artificial intelligence ethics instruction is critical, and must extend beyond computer sciences courses. Ethics and technology have always been tightly interwoven, but as artificial intelligence (AI) marches forward and impacts society in new and novel ways, the stakes--and repercussions--are growing. "There is potential for (AI) to be used in ways that society disapproves of," observes David S. Touretzky, a research professor in the computer science department at Carnegie Mellon University. One idea that's gaining momentum is AI ethics instruction in schools. Groups such as AI4K12 and the MIT Media Lab have begun to study the issue and develop AI learning frameworks for K-12 students.

In its annual report, the AI Now Institute, an interdisciplinary research center studying the societal implications of artificial intelligence, called for a ban on technology designed to recognize people's emotions in certain cases. Specifically, the researchers said affect recognition technology, also called emotion recognition technology, should not be used in decisions that "impact people's lives and access to opportunities," such as hiring decisions or pain assessments, because it is not sufficiently accurate and can lead to biased decisions. What is this technology, which is already being used and marketed, and why is it raising concerns? Researchers have been actively working on computer vision algorithms that can determine the emotions and intent of humans, along with making other inferences, for at least a decade. Facial expression analysis has been around since at least 2003.

The dependency on automation has accelerated due to COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore companies are relying on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to have business continuity amid this crisis. AI and ML are not only transforming the way businesses operate, but also providing a massive opportunity for companies to gain a competitive advantage. However, due to several reasons – like lack of skilled talent and budget, along with an understanding of newer technologies – have created a host of barriers for enterprises to smoothly adopt artificial intelligence and machine learning for their organisations. In fact, according to a recent survey, approximately 50% of respondents reported that their organisations lack skilled talents to implement real AI.

The magnitude of the Covid-19 pandemic will largely depend on how quickly safe and effective vaccines and treatments can be developed and tested. Many assume a widely available vaccine is years away, if ever. Others believe that a 12- to 18-month development cycle is a given. Our best bet to reduce even that record-breaking timeline is by using artificial intelligence. The problem is twofold: discovering the right set of molecules among billions of possibilities, and then waiting for clinical trials. These processes ordinarily take several years, but AI holds the key to radically shortening both.

The soldier who is a split second quicker on the draw may walk away from a firefight unscathed; the ship that sinks an enemy vessel first may spare itself a volley of missiles. In cases where humans can't keep up with the pace of modern conflict, machines step in. When a rocket-propelled grenade is streaking toward an armored ground vehicle, an automated system onboard the vehicle identifies the threat, tracks it, and fires a countermeasure to intercept it, all before the crew inside is even aware. Similarly, US Navy ships equipped with the Aegis combat system can switch on Auto-Special mode, which automatically swats down incoming warheads according to carefully programmed rules. These kinds of defensive systems have been around for decades, and at least 30 countries now use them.

Humans and AI systems work better when they tackle problems together. The paper appears to be one of the first published by Horvitz since Microsoft named him chief scientific officer in March, the first in company history. Horvitz came to Microsoft as a principal researcher in 1993 and led Microsoft Research operations from 2017 to 2020. The paper released earlier this month studies the performance of human and AI teams working together on two computer vision tasks: Galaxy classification and breast cancer metastasis detection. With the proposed approach, the AI model determines which tasks are best for humans to perform and which are better handled by AI.

With the technology of artificial intelligence increasing and growing more complex, new forms of artificial intelligence is coming out of the closet. The changes of artificial intelligence are bringing prosperity and productivity to many but anxiety and paranoia to others, a fear of artificial intelligence replacing workers and jobs. Artificial intelligence, or AI for short, is very useful when tackling issues where humans fail or can't do for safety measures. With data stored in them, they are able perform tasks in such a quick and efficient speed that outperforms humans in every way. For example, some AIs can become safer drivers for passengers, as a result this makes rides safer and faster.

Dr. David Bray is the Inaugural Director of the new global GeoTech Center & Commission of the Atlantic Council, a nonprofit for international political, business, and intellectual leaders founded in 1961. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Council offers programs related to international security and global economic prosperity. In previous leadership roles, Bray led the technology aspects of the Centers for Disease Control's bioterrorism preparedness program in response to 9/11, the outbreak response to the West Nile virus, SARS, monkey pox and other emergencies. He also spent time on the ground in Afghanistan in 2009 as a senior advisor to both military and humanitarian assistance efforts, serving as the non-partisan Executive Director for a bipartisan National Commission on R&D, and providing leadership as a non-partisan federal agency Senior Executive focused on digital modernization. He also is a Young Global Leader for 2017-2021 of the World Economic Forum. Bray is a member of multiple Boards of Directors and has worked with the U.S. Special Operations Command on counter-misinformation efforts. He was invited to give the 2019 UN Charter Keynote on the future of AI & IoT governance. His academic background includes a PhD from Emory University; he also has held affiliations with MIT, Harvard, and the University of Oxford. He recently took a few moments to speak to AI Trends Editor John P. Desmond about current events, including the geopolitics of the COVID-19 pandemic. AI Trends: Thank you David for talking to AI Trends today.