What is the single most important step the tech community can take to instill trust in artificial intelligence? In 2013, when I was the D.O.D.'s No. 2 official, I issued a policy directive on autonomous weapons that is still in force. The U.S. takes its values to the battlefield, and the directive says that a human must be involved in and responsible for decisions aided by A.I. to employ lethal weapons. The same moral compass should govern commercial applications of A.I., such as credit ratings, prison sentencing and privacy. After a lifetime in technology development, I believe that transparency for the sake of accountability must be a technical design requirement for A.I. algorithms.

Before the New Work Summit last week, The New York Times asked leaders who were participating in the conference to answer their choice of questions about technology. Their responses have been edited and condensed. In 2013, when I was the D.O.D.'s No. 2 official, I issued a policy directive on autonomous weapons that is still in force. The U.S. takes its values to the battlefield, and the directive says that a human must be involved in and responsible for decisions aided by A.I. to employ lethal weapons. The same moral compass should govern commercial applications of A.I., such as credit ratings, prison sentencing and privacy.