Sep 19, 2023
Toby Walsh is a professor and the Chief Scientist at UNSW’s new AI Institute and has spent the past 40 years researching artificial intelligence. He is the author of several books on AI including “2062: The world that AI made”. This presentation will discuss questions such as can we trust AI or will it increasingly deceive us? How can we ensure AI is harnessed as a force for good rather than for nefarious ends?
In Part 1 of this two-part podcast, we will be talking to Toby about the decisions that machines make, the biases that are embedded in them and the military use of AI and the implications it has for geopolitics.
(2:22) - Are we becoming less intelligent while the machines are becoming more intelligent? Or are we freeing up capacity to turn our mind to other, more important, tasks?
(5:27) - Can machines make better decisions than humans?
(7:45) - You talk about how the machines can make better decisions, but there’s also the nefarious side, such as the privacy issue of being monitored and now the machines can do facial recognition.
(9:15) - So, this goes to the whole idea of the need to regulate artificial intelligence, but how do you do that in a way that doesn’t then stifle the creativity and the future benefits? Is it possible to regulate AI and how is the best way to do it?
(11:17) - It feels like the technology is developing and progressing so quickly, the government is already behind the curve. How can they catch up and move with it?
(13:29) - I’m interested in your work on the United Nations campaign to ban autonomous killer robots. How is geopolitics going to change because of AI?
(16:12) - Is the Australian government involved in the military use of artificial intelligence?
(17:03) - Is there anyone developing autonomous military vehicles that are nuclear? It’s one thing for a robot to shoot down a plane, but to start a nuclear war?
(19:25) - I’m guessing there is no override button that a human can push to at least stop it on time?
(19:42) - Who’s working with governments on this? I understand Google made the decision to pull back from their involvement with the US military.