A Precautionary Approach to Artificial Intelligence, by Maciej Kuziemski

FLORENCE – For policymakers anywhere, the best way to make decisions is to base them on evidence, however imperfect the available data may be. But what should leaders do when facts are scarce or non-existent? That is the quandary facing those who must grapple with the fallout of "advanced predictive algorithms" – the binary building blocks of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). In academic circles, AI-minded scholars are either "singularitarians" or "presentists." Singularitarians generally argue that while AI technologies pose an existential threat to humanity, the benefits outweigh the costs.