Ethics in the Balance: AI's Implications for Government

While the COVID-19 crisis got most folks thinking about face masks and toilet paper, Chris Calabrese was pondering artificial intelligence and its implications for public policy. His aha moment came when he realized Facebook had sent home most of its human overseers and put AI in charge of policing the social forum for inappropriate content. "The result has been systems that don't work as well. They are taking down groups dedicated to sewing masks, just because they are falsely flagged," said Calabrese, vice president of policy at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "That's automation being used by one of the most influential companies in the world, and it's still not up to snuff. That gives me a sense of how far we have to go." Facebook's stuttering steps into automation reflect broader ethical challenges faced by public tech leaders as AI, biometrics and surveillance technologies increasingly enter the mainstream.