Engineering news
The Science and Technology committee has published a report outlining its concerns regarding the government’s passivity towards AI advancement in the country, and has called for a commission to look into the ethical, legal and societal impact.
Although AI technology has seen significant progress, the committee acknowledged that the current use of AI is specific and narrow, such as driverless cars and supercomputers that can assist doctors with medical diagnoses, to intelligent tutoring systems that can tailor lessons to meet a student’s individual cognitive needs. Nevertheless, the committee recognised that it has an impact on everyday life and that the government must develop plans for workforce, skills and training to keep up with AI implementation.
The committee expressed its disapproval at the lack of plans to adapt education and training to deliver skills and expertise for AI technology. The government was also reprimanded for failing to publish its digital strategy and was advised to present it without further delay and to commit to upskilling workers.
The committee also urged that steps should be taken to ensure that AI systems do not deviate from their intended programming and maintain predictability during usage.
Autonomous vehicles often pose this concern, and the committee advocated for accountability in the case of system failures that might harm the passengers.
Dave Coplin from Microsoft said: “We need a level of accountability for the algorithms. The people making the algorithm and the AI need to be held accountable for the outcome.”
Addressing the liability of autonomous vehicles, the government suggested: “Our proposal is to extend compulsory motor insurance to cover product liability to give motorists cover when they have handed full control over to the vehicle. And, that motorists or their insurers rely on courts to apply the existing rules of product liability under the Consumer Protection Act, and negligence under the common law, to determine who should be responsible.”
Another pivotal consideration the report stressed was for government to adapt the workforce in accordance with the improvements in productivity and efficiency created by AI systems. The government was asked to address issues pertaining to potential rise in unemployment as well as the creation and adjustment of jobs that could be borne out of human employees and AIs co-existing in the workplace.
The government was also criticised on its lack of preparation on Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS), which forms one of the government’s ‘Eight Great Technologies’. The committee said there has been no strategy for developing the skills, and securing the critical investment, that is needed to create future growth in robotics and AI. These topics were to be led by an RAS leadership council that the government announced in March 2015, but has also failed to implement.
The committee advocated for the government to display leadership in legal, ethical and societal dimensions of AI technology effective immediately to ensure that its use remains “socially beneficial”.