Opacity, neutrality, stupidity: Challenges for Artificial Intelligence algorithms

NO one at the beginning of the 2000s could have predicted what is happening today in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). No one would have bet that in such a short span of time, Artificial Intelligence algorithms would become so pervasive and would be at work in a wide range of activities of our daily lives, from driving our car to unlocking our smartphone, to getting recommendations for our next purchase. Indeed, Artificial Intelligence algorithms are all around us, even if we don't know about it; and it is here to stay. The reason for this astonishing progress lies not so much in the invention of brand-new sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms, but rather in the sheer availability of huge amounts of data and a formidable computational power. This allows us to apply time-honoured machine learning models loosely inspired by the functioning of the brain which, as it turns out, work remarkably well.