Addressing the promises and challenges of AI

A three-day celebration event this week for the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing put focus on the Institute's new role in helping society navigate a promising yet challenging future for artificial intelligence (AI), as it seeps into nearly all aspects of society. On Thursday, the final day of the event, a series of talks and panel discussions by researchers and industry experts conveyed enthusiasm for AI-enabled advances in many global sectors, but emphasized concerns -- on topics such as data privacy, job automation, and personal and social issues -- that accompany the computing revolution. Kicking off the day's events, MIT President Rafael Reif said the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will train students in an interdisciplinary approach to AI. It will also train them to take a step back and weigh potential downsides of AI, which is poised to disrupt "every sector of our society." "Everyone knows pushing the limits of new technologies can be so thrilling that it's hard to think about consequences and how [AI] too might be misused," Reif said.