Grand Challenges lecture series Grand Challenges 2018-2019 | Page 9

Dr Joanna Bryson
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF
PEOPLE IN AN AGE OF
INTELLIGENT MACHINES?
13 FEBRUARY 2019 6.00PM-7.00PM
KEELE HALL, THE SALVIN ROOM
Artificial intelligence (AI) and the information age are
bringing us more information about ourselves and each
other than any society has ever known. Yet at the same
time it brings machines seemingly more capable of every
human endeavour than any human can be. What are the
limits of AI? Of intelligence and humanity more broadly?
What are our ethical obligations to machines? Do these
alter our obligations to each other? What is the basis of
our social obligations?
In this talk Dr Bryson will argue that there are really only
two problems humanity (or any other species) has to solve.
These are sustainability and inequality, or put another
way, security and power. Or put a third way, how big
of a pie can we make, and how do we slice up that pie?
Life is not a zero-sum game; we and many other species
use the security of sociality to construct public goods
where everyone benefits. But still, every individual needs
enough pie to thrive, and this is the challenge of inequality.
Dr Bryson will argue for greater understanding of these
processes and will also consider how AI is presently
affecting both of these problems. Dr Bryson will close
with concrete policy recommendations for managing
AI and our society.
Dr Joanna Bryson is a senior Research Fellow in the
Department of Computer Science, University of Bath
and an affiliate at the Princeton Center for Information
Technology Policy. Her research covers topics ranging
from artificial intelligence, through autonomy and robot
ethics, and on to human cooperation. She has published
extensively and consults widely on AI and human society.
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