The ethical dilemmas of artificial intelligence under study at the URJC

rose marquez

'The Turing trap' is a concept proposed by Stanford University professor Erik Brynjolfsson, alluding to an imitation game proposed by Alan Turing in 1950: subjecting a computer and a human being to a series of questions simultaneously. If the evaluator could not distinguish the machine's responses from the person's responses, the computer would have passed the Turing Test. Since then, the goal of many researchers and entrepreneurs has been to create artificial intelligence capable of replacing human intelligence, which could lead us into a trap with unforeseen consequences. This ethical dilemma is the starting point of a new summer course that the URJC will give on June 26 and 27 at its headquarters in Aranjuez.

“We believe that AI should not only be guided by utility issues such as the cost function, the efficiency in the consumption of air conditioning or the creation of bots that are more similar to humans. In this optimization nucleus, the concept of human rights must also be included”, explains the director of the course, Joaquín Arias, professor of Computer Science and member of CETINIA, Research Center for Intelligent Information Technologies and its Applications of the University King Juan Carlos. Academics and developers have signed several manifestos warning about the dangers that these systems can pose without global regulation. “They are concerned because it is a technology that can bring many good things, but also inappropriate or fraudulent use. They have asked that its development be halted to give time to create a legal framework. One of the seminars of the course will be dedicated to the Artificial Intelligence Regulation that the European Union hopes to approve this year.

Among the participating speakers, there will be international experts such as Michael Luck, Professor of Computer Science at King's College or Mark d'Inverno, Professor of Computer Science at Goldsmiths, University of London, who will analyze the impact of AI on music, its creative possibilities and their ethical limitations.

The course is free and is intended both for experts, who may never have considered these issues, and for students who will have to develop AI systems in the future, although it is not necessary to have previous knowledge in the field to be able to follow the presentations. so everyone is invited to participate.