Why we can't leave AI in the hands of Big Tech

Fresh breakthroughs in artificial intelligence come thick and fast these days. Last month, Google's DeepMind revealed its latest Go-playing AI which mastered the ancient game from scratch in a mere 70 hours. AI can spot cancer in medical scans better than humans, meaning radiotherapy can be targeted in minutes, not hours. We may soon use the technology to design new drugs, or repurpose existing ones to treat other, neglected, diseases. But as we begin to realise these opportunities, the potential risks increase: that AI will proliferate, uncontrolled and unregulated, in the hands of a few increasingly powerful technology firms, at the expense of jobs, equality and privacy.