White House's final artificial intelligence workshop highlights need for humans to hold the reins on AI

The White House wound up a nationwide series of workshops on artificial intelligence today on a cautionary note: Yes, AI promises to ease many of humanity's ills, but humanity needs to make sure that flesh-and-blood policymakers are firmly in charge. Latanya Sweeney, director of the Data Privacy Lab at Harvard's Institute of Quantitative Social Science, said AI programs should be made to reflect the norms agreed upon by human society. "I want the people we elect controlling those norms, not the technology itself. Those norms should include supporting social equity and diversity, said Alicia Glen, New York City's deputy mayor for housing and urban development. "At its best, artificial intelligence can be a tool to promote equity, and it obviously can create huge economic opportunity for a lot of people," she said. "But it can also have discriminatory effects, whether they're intended or unintended.