Artificial intelligence has the potential to have extremely beneficial but also detrimental effects on society as we know it. From helpful home robots run amok to artificial intelligence that widens the gap between rich and poor, there are many ways the increasingly present AI in our lives can go bad.
University of Texas computer scientist Peter Stone has been grappling with these issues for years. He is part of the UT grand challenge, Good Systems, which brings together researchers from across disciplines to discover the principles behind ethical AI. The goal is to figure out what makes a good system — one that benefits society without inadvertently causing damage or leaving people out of the equation.
Stone recently joined the College of Natural Science’s “Point of Discovery” podcast to talk about his work, including research into autonomous cars, smart intersections and helper robots. Check out what he had to say in this latest episode. “Point of Discovery” is a podcast that goes behind the front lines of science by connecting with the best thinkers on campus.
Peter Stone, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Computer Science. He is also associate department chair, chair of Texas Robotics and founder and director of the Learning Agents Research Group within the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. His main research interest in AI is understanding how we can best create complete intelligent agents.