Sean Moncrieff: The dark side of artificial intelligence is doomsday scary

God be with the days when AI meant a fella coming to get the cows pregnant. It can make a medical diagnosis or compose music or play chess. If artificial intelligence was a TV character it would be a mix of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory and a handsome doctor from Grey's Anatomy. New York City Council is currently going through a process to establish exactly how many algorithms are involved in the governance of the city: because they don't know how many there are. They do know that it's involved in the allocation of police officers, food stamps and public housing.