What we need to talk about when we talk about Artificial Intelligence - Digital Policy Portal

No longer the subject of science fiction, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is profoundly transforming our daily lives. While computers have been mimicking human intelligence already for some decades using logic and if-then kind of rules, massive increases in computational power are now facilitating the creation of'deep learning' machines i.e. algorithms that permit software to train itself to recognize patterns and perform tasks, like speech and image recognition, through exposure to vast amounts of data. These deep learning algorithms are everywhere, shaping our preferences and behaviour. Facebook uses a set of algorithms to tailor what news stories an individual user sees and in what order. Bot activity on Twitter last year suppressed a protest against Mexico's now-president by overloading the hashtag used to organize the event.