A pioneering computer scientist wants algorithms to be regulated like cars, banks, and drugs

It's convenient when Facebook can tag your friends in photos for you, and it's fun when Snapchat can apply a filter to your face. Both are examples of algorithms that have been trained to recognize eyes, noses, and mouths with consistent accuracy. When these programs are wrong--like when Facebook mistakes you for your sibling or even your mom--it's hardly a problem. In other situations, though, we give artificial intelligence much more responsibility, with larger consequences when it inevitably backfires. Ben Shneiderman, a computer scientist from the University of Maryland, thinks the risks are big enough that it's time to for the government to get involved. In a lecture on May 30 to the Alan Turing Institute in London, he called for a "National Algorithm Safety Board," similar to the US's National Transportation Safety Board for vehicles, which would provide both ongoing and retroactive oversight for high-stakes algorithms.