It's time to address artificial intelligence's ethical problems

Whether it's robots coming to take your job or AI being used in military drones, there is no shortage of horror stories about artificial intelligence. Yet for all the potential it has to do harm, AI might have just as much potential to be a force for good in the world. Harnessing the power for good will require international cooperation, and a completely new approach to tackling difficult ethical questions, the authors of an editorial published in the journal Science argue. "From diagnosing cancer and understanding climate change to delivering risky and consuming jobs, AI is already showing its potential for good," says Mariarosaria Taddeo, deputy director of the Digital Ethics Lab at Oxford University and one of the authors of the commentary. "The question is how can harness this potential?"