Perspectives on AI

In 1997, when I was a graduate student studying computer science, I published my first novel, a parable about the dangers of approaching technology in general -- and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular -- with fear and hostility. Having done a Ph.D. in AI in the 90's, I've been working for over twenty years to help people understand AI and to calm dystopian hysteria that has wormed its way into discussions about the future of AI and robotics. Only by clearing away panicky rhetoric we can have a productive conversation about how those fields can be explored to the maximum benefit of humanity. Over the ensuing decades, we have seen the rapid evolution of AI (e.g. Self-driving cars, Google Brain), but the public rhetoric of fear hasn't changed.