Protecting The Human: Ethics In AI

When we think about the future of our world and what exactly that looks like, it's easy to focus on the shiny objects and technology that make our lives easier: flying cars, 3D printers, digital currencies and automated everything. In the opening scene of the animated film WALL-E – which takes place in the year 2805 – a song from "Hello, Dolly!" happily plays in the background, starkly contrasting the glimpse we get of our future planet Earth: an abandoned wasteland with heaping piles of trash around every corner. Humans had all evacuated Earth by this point and were living in a spaceship, where futuristic technology and automation left them overweight, lazy and completely oblivious to their surroundings. Machines do everything for them, from the hoverchairs that carry them around, to the robots that prepare their food. Glued to their screens all day, which have taken control of their lives and decisions, humans exhibit lazy behaviors like video chatting the person physically next to them.