Don’t ask if artificial intelligence is good or fair, ask how it shifts power

Don’t ask if artificial intelligence is good or fair, ask how it shifts power

Ask how artificial intelligence shifts power

When discussing artificial intelligence (AI), we often ask whether an AI is ‘fair’ and ‘for good’. But those are infinitely spacious words that any AI system can be squeezed into, argues AI researcher Pratyusha Kalluri. She suggests asking a deeper question: how is AI shifting power? “Many researchers think that AI is neutral and often beneficial, marred only by biased data drawn from an unfair society,” says Kalluri. “In reality, an indifferent field serves the powerful.”

Nature | 4 min read