It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but how worried should we be about artificial intelligence systems running rogue and potentially turning against us? All of these are at least 20 years old, with the latter being written approximately 3000 years ago, so if you've not caught up on them yet, you've only yourself to blame.) In the 1999 film The Matrix, which is set in the near future, the human race - worried by the increasing sentience and potential villainy of the artificial intelligence (AI) machines it's created - makes the decision to scorch the sky. They reason that without an energy source as abundant as the sun, the machines - which rely on solar power - will be crippled. "The human body generates more bioelectricity than a 120-volt battery, and over 25,000 BTUs of body heat," says one of the film's main characters, Lawrence Fishburne's Morpheus, in a voiceover.

A group from the University of Otago has called for the implementation of laws to regulate and govern the development and use of AI and machine learning in New Zealand. Colin Gavaghan has spoken out as a representative of the Artificial Intelligence and Law in New Zealand Project (AILNZP) - he is an Associate Professor at Otago's Faculty of Law and the director of the NZ Law Foundation sponsored Centre for Law and Policy in Emerging Technologies. In an article published recently, Gavaghan cites the concerns around Immigration New Zealand, ACC, and The Ministry for Social Development's use of predictive analytics systems as reasons that now is the time to consider a regulatory body to oversee the rising use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in New Zealand Government departments. "These systems can be of great use, but there must be more transparency about how predictive systems are being used in government," says Gavaghan in the article. Considering the amount of data that business and industry are collecting about their clients and customers, there seemed to be a lack of discussion in the article around whether this oversight should extend into the private sphere.

A group from the University of Otago has called for the implementation of laws to regulate and govern the development and use of AI and machine learning in New Zealand. Colin Gavaghan has spoken out as a representative of the Artificial Intelligence and Law in New Zealand Project (AILNZP) - he is an Associate Professor at Otago's Faculty of Law and the director of the NZ Law Foundation sponsored Centre for Law and Policy in Emerging Technologies. In an article published recently, Gavaghan cites the concerns around Immigration New Zealand, ACC, and The Ministry for Social Development's use of predictive analytics systems as reasons that now is the time to consider a regulatory body to oversee the rising use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in New Zealand Government departments. "These systems can be of great use, but there must be more transparency about how predictive systems are being used in government," says Gavaghan in the article. Considering the amount of data that business and industry are collecting about their clients and customers, there seemed to be a lack of discussion in the article around whether this oversight should extend into the private sphere.

Colin Gavaghan says there is growing concern about the lack of transparency about decisions made by computer algorithms. Having a human in the loop won't be enough to ensure decisions made using artificial intelligence will always be fair, says an Otago University academic who is helping shaping an emerging international debate on digital rights. Computers have already been used in New Zealand to assist in parole decisions by forecasting the chances of individual prisoners reoffending, and to identify ACC claimants who might be staying on benefits longer than expected. Software has also used by the Social Development Ministry in a brief and controversial experiment to predict children at risk of abuse. But Professor Colin Gavaghan warns an explosion of interest in artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to half-baked software flooding the market which won't be good at what it is supposed to do.

Is it acceptable for a driverless car to deliberately swerve in a way that saves its own passengers yet kills a pedestrian? That and other ethical dilemmas related to artificial intelligence will be put under the microscope by Kiwi researchers receiving $400,000 in funding from the charitable Law Foundation trust. With AI technology set to increasingly transform transport, crime prevention and other areas the Otago University research aims to inform public policy over three years. "New technologies are rapidly transforming the way we live and work, and (this funding) will help ensure that New Zealand's law and policy keeps up with the pace of change," Law Foundation executive director Lynda Hagen said. Research project leader Colin Gavaghan said the legal, practical and ethical challenges posed by AI technologies, which learn and adapt for themselves, fascinated him.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is coming at us before we fully understand what it might mean. Established ways of doing things in areas like transport regulation, crime prevention and legal practice are being challenged by new technologies such as driverless cars, crime prediction software and "AI lawyers". The possible implications of AI innovations for law and public policy in New Zealand will be teased out in a new, ground-breaking Law Foundation study. The three-year multi-disciplinary project, supported by a $400,000 Law Foundation grant, is being run out of the University of Otago. Project team leader Associate Professor Colin Gavaghan of the Faculty of Law says that AI technologies – essentially, technologies that can learn and adapt for themselves – pose fascinating legal, practical and ethical challenges.