Researchers Unveil Tool to Debug 'Black Box' Deep Learning Algorithms

Computers can now beat humans at chess and Go, but it may be a while before people trust their driving. The danger of self-driving cars was highlighted last year when Tesla's autonomous car collided with a truck it mistook for a cloud, killing its passenger. Self-driving cars depend on a form of machine learning called deep learning. Modeled after the human brain, layers of artificial neurons process and consolidate information, developing a set of rules to solve complex problems, from recognizing friends' faces online to translating email written in Chinese. The technology has achieved impressive feats of intelligence, but as more tasks become automated this way, concerns about safety, security, and ethics, are growing.