Making sense of our connected world
Myth: AI understands me, but I can’t understand it
We can contribute multiple perspectives to designing and implementing AI systems that impact us all differently.
Myth: AI algorithms decide what you see online
One myth posits that AI algorithms are tools used unilaterally by corporations to control what we see; the other argues that these algorithms are mere mirrors, and we are the ones who control what we see online.
Myth: AI will end discrimination
We approach the de-mystification of this claim by looking at concrete examples of how AI (re)produces inequalities and connect those to several aspects which help to illustrate socio-technical entanglements.
Siri’s evil sister. When the Dutch public service steals your data
“System Risk Indication” (SyRI) deployed by the dutch government for automatically detecting social benefit fraud. The program was shut down due to a severe lack in transparency and unproportional collection of data. This demonstrates how automating public services fails, when not properly implemented.
Myth: AI will kill us all!
AI is used in various military applications – supporting new concepts of command and control and enabling autonomous targeting functions. This accelerates warfare and erodes human control, causing legal & ethical challenges.
Myth: What you do with AI in the bedroom is your own thing
While sexuality is considered to be something private, the sex robot reproduces the public/private divide by reinforcing the idea that a feminized caregiver is supposed to provide emotional support and sexualized care work.
Governing AI: Political players between vision and regulation
Not only tech giants in Silicon Valley influence the development of artificial intelligence (AI): supranational political institutions, states and parties are also active leaders and regulators. They set legal standards, formulate strategies for the future, explore potentials and dangers, promote and sanction or even adopt controversial positions. How do political actors position themselves in the AI debate between economic interest, ethical controversies and the common good? Where do their strategies differ? Is politics here more of a driver or a driven force?
Algorithmic decisions and human rights
Who is responsible if an autonomous vehicle is involved in an accident? What are the consequences of automated profiling of the unemployed? How intelligent is our use of artificial intelligence, and what visions and strategies do we need for the future? Innovations in the field of artificial intelligence are impacting nearly every area of our everyday life. However, algorithmic decision-making leads to complex human rights implications. In this dossier researchers of the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society and the NoC European Hub discuss the role of law and ethics in the context of algorithmic decision-making.
