New Zealanders respond to strict regulation of artificial intelligence

What a national survey reveals about AI in New Zealand

We just published the article “Personality and demographic correlates of support for regulating artificial intelligence” in the AI and Ethics journal. We analysed data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study survey that collected around 48 thousand responses from New Zealanders. The survey asked them if they support the strict regulation limiting the development and use of Artificial Intelligence. We analysed if the response to this question is related to the respondent’s personality and social economic indicators.

Data revealed that support for strict regulation of AI is positively related with agreeableness, neuroticism, and honesty–humility. However, it is negatively related to openness to experiences. Being female, older, non-European, religious, being single, a parent, living rural, being born in NZ, and living in a more economically deprived region were all related to support for strict regulation of AI. However, how secure one felt in their current job and one’s level of education were not significantly related to their support for the strict regulation of AI.

This study will inform policy makers and technology companies on how New Zealanders feel about AI. You can read the full article for free from this address: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-023-00279-4

University of Canterbury Inaugural Conference on Artificial Intelligence

The UC AI Inaugural Conference will take place on 9-10 December 2020.

UC AI is a newly-formed transdisciplinary cluster for artificial intelligence research. UC AI encompasses researchers from UC’s departments and schools of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Mathematics and Statistics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Psychology, Education, the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the New Zealand Human Interface Technology Laboratory.

UC AI’s Inaugural Conference also provides an opportunity to celebrate Ada Lovelace’s birthday on 10 December. Nearly 200 years ago, Lovelace and Charles Babbage wrote the first programs for a universal digital computer.

The conference is free, but if you are planning to come, please register as soon as possible via the website.

If you would like accommodation in a UC Hall of Residence ($60 per night inclusive of GST for a single room), please make your reservation.

New Podcast Episode: Artificial Artificial Intelligence

New Podcast Episode on the Terrible Foundation, Turing Test and Artificial Intelligence.

I am proud to announce my new Human-Robot Interaction Podcast Episode: Artificial Artificial Intelligence. Alan Turing devised the Imitation Game as a test the intelligence of machines. This test is also used in human-robot interaction. But what happens if not a computer is trying to convince you that it is a human, but a human is trying to deceive you in thinking he is an artificial intelligence? In this episode we will discuss the Turing Test, the Zach super computer and what it means to think. I interviewed Diane Proudfoot and David Farrier about the Terrible Foundation, Turing Test and Artificial Intelligence.

Ethik in KI und Robotik

My first scientific book in German is now available. Here is the blurb:

Was darf KI eigentlich?

Unser Leben wird zunehmend von Künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) und Robotik beeinflusst. Autonome Fahrzeuge kommen auf unsere Straßen, Roboter werden für eine Vielzahl von Aufgaben im Gesundheitswesen vorgeschlagen – von der Unterstützung älterer Menschen bis zum Einsatz bei Operationen – und Algorithmen entscheiden über Kreditanträge sowie sogar über den Einsatz automatischer Waffensysteme. Viele Menschen befürchten, dass KI langfristig die Kontrolle über unser Leben übernimmt.

Vor diesem Hintergrund wird es immer wichtiger, die ethischen Grundlagen und Auswirkungen des Einsatzes von KI und Robotik in unserer Gesellschaft zu diskutieren. Dieses Buch bietet eine Einführung in das Thema, die keine technischen, rechtlichen oder philosophischen Kenntnisse voraussetzt. Es behandelt Fragen des Vertrauens, der Verantwortung, der Haftung, des Datenschutzes und des Risikos in der Beziehung der Nutzer zu KI-Systemen und Robotik.

Die Autoren veranschaulichen die Themen im gesamten Buch anhand von Beispielen. Am jeweiligen Kapitelende befinden sich Fragen, die zur Diskussion von KI-Anwendungen einladen, von der Gesundheitsfürsorge bis zur Kriegsführung. Weiterführende Literatur dient ebenfalls als Anregung für den Leser.

Aus dem Inhalt:

  • Was ist KI?
  • Was ist Ethik?
  • Fairness und Vertrauen in KI-Systeme
  • Verantwortung und Haftung bei KI-Systemen
  • Risiken der KI für Unternehmen
  • Psychologische Aspekte der KI
  • Privatsphäre und KI
  • Human Enhancement
  • Autonome Fahrzeuge
  • Militärische Anwendungen der KI