So was 2022 the year that advancements in artificial intelligence made the world a much scarier place, or does it just feel that way? Put another way, did I write this introduction, or did a chat bot? Brian Christian is author of the bestselling book "The Alignment Problem," and he's here to help us look back and forward at the impact AI is having on our lives. Good to have you here. SHAPIRO: Well, in addition to everything we just heard about, this was also the year that a piece of art generated by AI won a prize at the Colorado State Fair.

In artificial intelligence (AI), the "alignment problem" refers to the challenges caused by the fact that machines simply do not have the same values as us. In fact, when it comes to values, then at a fundamental level, machines don't really get much more sophisticated than understanding that 1 is different from 0. As a society, we are now at a point where we are starting to allow machines to make decisions for us. So how can we expect them to understand that, for example, they should do this in a way that doesn't involve prejudice towards people of a certain race, gender, or sexuality? Or that the pursuit of speed, or efficiency, or profit, has to be done in a way that respects the ultimate sanctity of human life? Theoretically, if you tell a self-driving car to navigate from point A to point B, it could just smash its way to its destination, regardless of the cars, pedestrians, or buildings it destroys on its way.

A jaw-dropping exploration of everything that goes wrong when we build AI systems and the movement to fix them. Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not, in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and potentially existential risks emerge.

For better or worse, says Brian Christian, questions that link ethics and technology, particularly in the field of machine learning "are not going away. In some ways I see this as one of the defining challenges of the decade ahead of us." By'this' he is referring to the core subject of his new book'The Alignment Problem', which tackles the question of how we can ensure that the growth industry of machine learning "is behaving in the way we expect it to. How do we make sure that we can trust it and that we are safe and comfortable?" Machine learning, says the author, whose previous books have included'The Most Human Human' and'Algorithms to Live By,' "is the fastest-growing sub-field in artificial intelligence and one of the most exciting things happening in science today, full stop".

As we move into 2017 there is probably a long list of items that you are looking forward to tackling next year. In the past few months, we have witnessed some fascinating shifts in our national and global priorities and we are beginning to plan - as individual professionals, teams, leaders, organizations, and communities – how we will navigate the changing economic, social and political landscapes. Beyond the widely discussed political changes, there is also a host of technology trends and drivers that are working to redefine nearly every aspect of our lives. As we approach 2017, I wanted to share a few thought-provoking resources that I consider to be must-reads. Although there are many subjects worth exploring over the next few months, I wanted to highlight one area that is becoming exceedingly important.

Brian Christian is the author of The Most Human Human, which was named a Wall Street Journal bestseller and a New Yorker favourite book of 2011, and has been translated into ten languages. He is the coauthor, with Tom Griffiths, of Algorithms to Live By, available Spring 2016. The Most Human Human is a provocative, exuberant, and profound exploration of the ways in which computers are reshaping our ideas of what it means to be human. He has just released his latest book, Algorithms to Live By. Co-written with cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths, the book offers a fascinating exploration of how computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind.