Artificial intelligence (AI) will shape the destiny of humanity, but first humanity has the opportunity to shape AI. At times, anxiety about the former causes us to overlook the latter. We forget that artificial intelligence is going to serve the goals with which we're now programming it. Its implementation will follow the standards we now have the opportunity to set. This leaves citizens -- and those representing us in government -- with an urgent responsibility.

Weekday afternoons, millions of Americans -- many stuck in rush-hour traffic -- learn the business news of the day from Kai Ryssdal, a former Navy pilot and host of the public radio show Marketplace. "I spend almost as much time with Kai Ryssdal as I do with my own husband," joked Sally Kilbridge of Scottsdale, Ariz., who toughs out her more than two-hour-a-day commute by listening to public radio. Marketplace, which is produced in downtown Los Angeles by American Public Media, is the most popular business program broadcast in the U.S., with an average of 14.6 million listeners a week. In the last year, the 28-year-old program has seen its audience grow 16% -- benefiting from Americans' increased appetite for news. Hoping to capitalize on its success, Marketplace has launched an ambitious plan to remain a vital source for economic information as consumers' listening habits change, putting a strain the traditional broadcast model.