Scientists Are Using Stories To Teach Human Values To Computers

The scientific community is observing the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the existential questions it has brought along with it. Fears about whether robots could act unethically and choose to harm humans is a major rallying point for bans on robotics research. To assuage these concerns, some researchers are asking whether we can teach AIs ethical behavior instead. This is difficult, however, because there is no user manual for being human and moral. Researchers Mark Riedl and Brent Harrison from the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology believe that the answer may lie in "Quixote".