50 AI Development = Benefits & Risks The widely-discussed benefits and risks of AI – top-of-mind for many – generate warranted excitement and trepidation, further fueled by uncertainty over the rapid pace of change and intensifying global competition and saber rattling. The pros Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig went deep on these topics in the Fourth Edition (2020) of their 1,116-page classic ‘Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach’ (link here), and their views still hold true. Highlights follow… …the benefits: put simply, our entire civilization is the product of our human intelligence. If we have access to substantially greater machine intelligence, the [ceiling of our] ambitions is raised substantially. The potential for AI and robotics to free humanity from menial repetitive work and to dramatically increase the production of goods and services could presage an era of peace and plenty. The capacity to accelerate scientific research could result in cures for disease and solutions for climate change and resource shortages. As Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, has suggested: ‘First we solve AI, then use AI to solve everything else.’ Long before we have an opportunity to ‘solve AI,’ however, we will incur risks from the misuse of AI, inadvertent or otherwise. Some of these are already apparent, while others seem likely based on current trends including lethal autonomous weapons…surveillance and persuasion…biased decision making… impact on employment…safety-critical applications…cybersecurity… AI = Benefits & Risks Source: Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, ‘Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach’