Making AI accountable easier said than done, says U of A expert

If you had to program a self-driving car, which option would you choose if only two were available: hit a pedestrian who suddenly appears in front of the vehicle or veer off into a baby carriage on the sidewalk? It's the kind of ethical conundrum that could shape artificial intelligence in years to come, and one of many the University of Alberta's Geoffrey Rockwell has been pondering lately. Earlier this month, the professor of philosophy and digital humanities joined a national brainstorming forum on the ethics of AI in Montreal, along with industry leaders, federal government officials and other academics, including philosophers. They gathered to grapple with an industry currently worth US$7.4 billion, according to figures circulated at the forum, and expected to reach almost US$16 trillion by 2065--amounting to a seismic shift in how we live and work. The forum followed the signing last June of the Canada-France Statement on Artificial Intelligence, meant to jump-start an international coalition charged with exploring the societal implications of a technology that promises to soon be as ubiquitous as the internet, only with the power to potentially make life-and-death decisions on our behalf.