Today, Microsoft is releasing The Future Computed: AI and Manufacturing. This new book provides an in-depth look at how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the manufacturing sector by optimizing digital operations and driving efficiencies, enabling new products and services, and allowing for safer work environments. The book also offers a timely look at how society can respond to some of the challenges AI creates, and the need to develop new laws and regulations to address workforce disruption and develop AI in an ethical and responsible manner. Written by Greg Shaw – co-author of Hit Refresh with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and The Ability Hacks about technology for people with disabilities – this book is the second in a series that began with the release last year of The Future Computed: Artificial Intelligence and its role in society. In an era when digital technology is changing almost every aspect about how people live, work, play, and learn, we believe it is important to think carefully about the complex questions that AI raises.

Within the Manufacturers Annual Report 2019, it is clear there is still confusion among British manufacturers about the adoption of artificial intelligence. Summarising the report, a very large portion of those interviewed appreciate the benefits of investing in smart factory technologies but are confused by what digital technologies are. In fact, over 50% of those surveyed had no plans to invest in such technology (27% not on their radars, 26% unsure how to implement it). To add perspective, 15% indicated digital technologies were widespread and only 2% suggested their entire factories were digitalised. Of the latter, 77% indicted that such investment would be used to improve design and production processes, with 74% highlighting that it will be used to streamline internal processes within production and administration.

Today, as more global manufacturing companies are incorporating artificial intelligence ("AI") into both their manufacturing processes and the products they sell, they are grappling with several pressing issues. At Microsoft, our AI and Ethics in Engineering and Research (AETHER) Committee helped architect six baseline principles for AI development: fairness, reliability & safety, privacy & security, inclusiveness, transparency and accountability to frame the work of the company's AI designers and developers as described in detail in our book The Future Computed: Artificial Intelligence and its role in society. While researching our latest book in the "Future Computed" series, The Future Computed: AI and Manufacturing, we listened to manufacturing company executives, association and work force leaders, as well as front-line factory employees to understand their respective attitudes toward AI-related policies, and the role regulation can play in guiding the use of AI in manufacturing. With respect to the last point, the stakeholders we have connected with and listened to have all stressed that democratizing access to AI is a key priority. They also noted that smart public policy is critical for developing incentives to help all organizations, regardless of size, benefit from AI's potential.

The industry is again at the forefront of grappling with the opportunity and challenges of transformational new technologies. At the start of last year, Microsoft released The Future Computed: Artificial Intelligence and its Role in Society. The book was designed to pique conversation on how to use artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle some of the major challenges of our time, and generate discussion about how to create an environment for the ethical and responsible use of AI. The book was a success, helping to kickstart meaningful discussions with governments, businesses and civil society across the world on one of the fundamental issues of our times. The book builds on the existing AI debate, focusing on the impact of AI on the manufacturing sector.

AI-powered loan and credit approval processes have been marred by unforeseen bias. Smart speakers have secretly turned on and recorded thousands of minutes of audio of their owners. Unfortunately, there's no industry-standard, best-practices handbook on AI ethics for companies to follow--at least not yet. Some large companies, including Microsoft and Google, are developing their own internal ethical frameworks. A number of think tanks, research organizations, and advocacy groups, meanwhile, have been developing a wide variety of ethical frameworks and guidelines for AI. Below is a brief roundup of some of the more influential models to emerge--from the Asilomar Principles to best-practice recommendations from the AI Now Institute.

Brad Smith is Microsoft's President and Chief Legal Officer. Harry Shum is the Executive Vice President of Microsoft AI and Research Group. They've teamed to write this foreword for the company's new book. Twenty years ago, we both worked at Microsoft, but on opposite sides of the globe. In 1998, one of us was living and working in China as a founding member of the Microsoft Research Asia lab in Beijing. Five thousand miles away, the other was based at the company's headquarters, just outside of Seattle, leading the international legal and corporate affairs team. While we lived on separate continents and in quite different cultures, we shared a common workplace experience within Microsoft, albeit with differing routines before we arrived at the office. At that time in the United States, waking to the scent of brewing coffee was a small victory in technology automation. It meant that you had remembered to set the timer on the programmable coffee maker the night before. As you drank that first cup of coffee, you typically watched the morning news on a standard television or turned the pages of the local newspaper to learn what had happened while you slept.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Microsoft believes that lessons from a liberal arts education are necessary for the proper development of AI. In 2011, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates told a panel of American governors that a liberal arts education would hold back college graduates in the modern economy . Seven years later, Gates' company is siding with Jobs. Microsoft president Brad Smith and EVP of AI and research Harry Shum wrote in their new book " The Future Computed " that "one of the most important conclusions" of Microsoft's recent research into artificial intelligence is that lessons from liberal arts will be critical to unleashing the full potential of AI . The two executives imagine a world in which our daily lives will be inextricably linked to AI .

Microsoft believes that lessons from a liberal arts education are necessary for the proper development of AI. In 2011, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates told a panel of American governors that a liberal arts education would hold back college graduates in the modern economy. A few days later, late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs declared that "it's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing." Seven years later, Gates' company is siding with Jobs. Microsoft president Brad Smith and EVP of AI and research Harry Shum wrote in their new book "The Future Computed" that "one of the most important conclusions" of Microsoft's recent research into artificial intelligence is that lessons from liberal arts will be critical to unleashing the full potential of AI.

Artificial Intelligence and machine learning have entered the spotlight more and more in recent years, as major tech companies have each made innovating around AI a focus.

Today Microsoft is releasing a new book, The Future Computed: Artificial Intelligence and its role in society. The two of us have written the foreword for the book, and our teams collaborated to write its contents. As the title suggests, the book provides our perspective on where AI technology is going and the new societal issues it has raised. On a personal level, our work on the foreword provided an opportunity to step back and think about how much technology has changed our lives over the past two decades and to consider the changes that are likely to come over the next 20 years. In 1998, we both worked at Microsoft, but on opposite sides of the globe.