The ethics of AI: Robots will rise, but will they rule us all?

David Danks thinks a lot about the implications of artificial intelligence. In fact, the Carnegie Mellon University philosophy and psychology professor presented his very first research paper at an artificial intelligence conference in Seattle in 2001. Now, 17 years later, Danks sits at the center of one of the most fascinating (and some might say terrifying debates): How will artificial intelligence effect the human species? Or, put another way, should we be scared of the robotic future? There's certainly enough sci-fi writing -- not to mention press coverage, including a recent piece in The New Yorker with the ominous title Welcoming our New Robot Overlords -- to increase anxiety levels about artificial intelligence. And Danks, an expert in studying the complex dynamics between humans and autonomous systems, is not one to diminish those fears. However, he's optimistic that we can figure things out -- introducing ethics into the AI product development process earlier and requiring more transparency about the values-based decisions that went into creating the technologies. Ethics discussions shouldn't get added to the computer scientists' playbook as a "plug-in at the end, where it's like: 'Yeah, but don't kill people'" Danks notes.