Visa Views: What's on the horizon for artificial intelligence?

The potential of deep learning and AI are almost limitless, certainly well beyond the scope of our current imagination. Complex machines imbued with the characteristics of human intelligence (e.g., the ability to sense the world through sight, sound, and touch; to reason and plan; to communicate in natural language, and to move and manipulate objects), will influence society in untold ways. This dilemma is not at all new or limited to the field of computing; consider the ethical debates sparked by breakthroughs in gene editing, stem cell research, or genetically modified foods. Like many technologists of my generation, I am a rational optimist by nature. I believe AI can be harnessed in ways that dramatically improve our lives, and that its potential to do good far outweighs its potential to do harm. However, we can't presume that progress will automatically translate to benefits for humankind as a whole.