Rise of Concerns about AI: Reflections and Directions

Research, leadership, and communication about Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reviewed. Beyond the influences in our daily lives, AI techniques are playing roles in science and medicine. AI is already at work in some hospitals helping physicians understand which patients are at highest risk for complications, and AI algorithms are finding important needles in massive data haystacks, such as identifying rare but devastating side effects of medications. A number of prominent people, mostly from outside of computer science, have shared their concerns that AI systems could threaten the survival of humanity. Achieving the potential tremendous benefits of AI for people and society will require ongoing and vigilant attention to the near- and longer-term challenges to fielding robust and safe computing system The computer science community must take a leadership role in exploring and addressing concerns about machine intelligence. We must work to ensure that AI systems responsible for high-stakes decisions will behave safely and properly, and we must also examine and respond to concerns about potential transformational influences of AI.