Here’s one question that even the smartest minds aided by the most powerful machines will struggle to answer: at what point do the societal costs of not exploiting a transformative technology outweigh the conspicuous risks of using it?
Much public attention has rightly focused on the worrisome uses of artificial intelligence, such as killer robots or omnipresent facial recognition technology. This has led to demands for stricter regulation, as is now developing in the EU. But what remains unknowable are the benefits that may be lost to society by not fully using AI in responsible ways. We understandably recoil at the possibility of technology companies gaining privileged access to confidential medical records. Yet we rarely recognise their valuable input in helping roll out vaccination campaigns fastest to clinically vulnerable groups during the current pandemic.
