Skeptical of Artificial Intelligence? You Can Blame the Media This Time
Cutbacks in science and tech staffs have led to PR-driven coverage that fails to educate a public that wants to know the real story.
Can we talk about this first?
Photographer: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
Artificial intelligence is going to change the world profoundly, although exactly how is still unclear. The CEO of one AI company recently declared that “working for a living will become obsolete” as smart robots begin providing everything we need from self-driving cars to health care. That’s a little hard to believe. But business leaders think AI could soon reduce the human workforce by as much as 99 percent in certain sectors. Good or bad, AI is fast becoming a reality.
Unfortunately, we seem to be sleepwalking into our AI future without talking about what we want from it, or how to make sure it is used responsibly. Part of the blame lies with the news media’s coverage of AI. Recent studies find that media treatment of AI mostly follows industry announcements and new product launches, helping to purvey the industry’s self-interested view of AI’s value and desirability. The public, by contrast, seems to be more cautious — and overwhelmingly in favor of close management of AI, preferably not by tech companies themselves.