When can we truly trust machines? From SIRI to self-driving cars, Google's search algorithms to autonomous weapons and drones, the past few decades have witnessed some of the fastest, almost meteoric, rises in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Today, as different nation-states make choices around data, AI is shaping the privacy rights and governance rhetoric. Conversely, the "data" policies that nation-states form are also shaping the type of AI that emerges. With this backdrop, Vasant Dhar, Professor, Stern School of Business, New York University, discussed the ascent of Artificial Intelligence and its uses and implications for nation-states during a Development Seminar at Brookings India.

When can we truly trust machines? From SIRI to self-driving cars, Google's search algorithms to autonomous weapons and drones, the past few decades have witnessed some of the fastest, almost meteoric, rises in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Today, as different nation-states make choices around data, AI is shaping the privacy rights and governance rhetoric. Conversely, the "data" policies that nation-states form are also shaping the type of AI that emerges. With this backdrop, Vasant Dhar, Professor, Stern School of Business, New York University, discussed the ascent of Artificial Intelligence and its uses and implications for nation-states during a Development Seminar at Brookings India.

In this presentation, I answer the question "when do we trust machines?" In answer to this question, I use a "trust heatmap" in order to illustrate how the answer depends on two key elements: how often machines make mistakes and the costs or consequences of these mistakes. Figure 1: The AI Heat Map: Predictability vs Cost per Error I show that automation occurs when problems cross an "automation frontier" when the risks are sufficiently reduced either through better data and algorithms, or because of regulation or an expression of our preferences. When used in this way, the heatmap can be used to predict what kinds of tasks are currently amenable to automation and those where humans should maintain control. This ideas are presented in TEDx talk, entitled "When Do We Trust Machines?"