Barely a week goes by without a news story about the transformative impact that Artificial Intelligence – or computer that can hear, see, understand, and speak – will have on Europe’s economy and society.
The European Commission recently presented its AI strategy to ensure Europe can make the most of the opportunities offered by AI and address the new challenges that it brings.
While we are only starting to grasp the potential economic and social effects of AI, policymakers, companies and civil society are united in trying to understand where the technology will lead in years to come.
Yet while experts caution that this new technology remains at a formative stage, it is still possible to see how AI is already improving the way humans work and changing how some key sectors of society are organized.
In recent years, computer scientist have made leaps in our ability to learn from data, to recognize patterns and transform progress in machine learning into services and tools, such as speech-to-speech translation, speech and object recognition.
In this #TechTalk, Eric Horvitz, Technical Fellow and Director of Microsoft Research Labs, talks about some of the benefits AI and machine learning are bringing to the healthcare sector, particularly in improving prediction rates for patient recovery and readmission.
Given the valid concerns about how to responsibly design and use AI, he explains why it is essential for companies to establish ethical principles to make sure AI is properly governed as well as guide the development of AI systems that guard against bias and make machine decisions transparent and explainable. This awareness is what led Microsoft to set up its own internal AI & ethics board devoted to discussing and tackling these challenges at all levels of the company.
Given the potentially wide-reaching impact of AI, Eric also argues for a close cooperation between business and civil society in order to bring common understanding and shared ownership of the broad societal benefits it brings and challenges it poses in years to come.
Watch the full #TechTalk with Eric Horvitz here:
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