Artificial intelligence and society (2019)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the technologies that is transforming our society and many aspects of our daily lives. AI has already provided many positive benefits and may be a source of considerable economic prosperity. It also gives rise to questions about employment, confidentiality of data, privacy, infringement of ethical values and trust in results.

Policy makers should encourage and scientists should commit to:

• Careful stewardship is necessary to help share the benefits of AI across society. This will require
  close attention to the impact of AI on employment which will be in turn shaped by a range of factors including political, economic, and cultural elements, as well as progress in AI technologies.
• AI systems and data should be trustworthy. This should be facilitated through measures addressing the quality, lack of bias and traceability of data. While this can be further aided by making the data more accessible, personal data should not be made available to unauthorized parties.
• AI systems and data should be safe and secure. This is essential in the case of applications that
  involve human vulnerability and may require provably correct systems.
• Further research is needed to help develop explainable AI systems. When important decisions are
  suggested by AI impacting people, those concerned should be given sufficient information and be
  allowed to challenge the decisions (e.g., refuse a treatment or appeal a decision).
• Insights from many fields are needed in order to maximize the societal benefits of AI. Interdisciplinary research should involve diverse fields such as natural, life and medical sciences, engineering, robotics, humanities, economic and social sciences, ethics, computer science and AI itself.
• Citizens need to be AI-ready. A range of AI educational opportunities and information should be
  available and a well-founded dialogue with citizens is required to demystify this field.
• Public policy debate on the destructive/military usage of AI should be promoted. International undertakings limiting the risks of autonomous weapons should be considered by the relevant UN body.
• Talent exchanges and cooperation between public research and private sector should be encouraged.
• This would facilitate safe and rapid deployment of applications in areas of great human benefit.
• Collaboration is important for large-scale collection of data that are crucial for developing AI systems.