AI, Truth and Fairness

The 4th industrial age

Long before the hullabaloo of AI and automation became fashionable after Elon Musk entered the debate, I wrote a book entitled Brain Based Enterprises in 2017 where I suggested that the 4th industrial or AI age is an opportunity if good governance prevails. I proposed a harmonious fusion of man, woman and machine in a holistic and helpful way as the best approach to embrace the 4th industrial age, rather than the alternatives being put forward. Leaders, politicians and influencers must act together to place equal value the things that human beings do uniquely well whilst making the most of tech and AI to augment humanistic contributions for better lives.

Note : “The Man Machine” is the title of a Kraftwerk album. I am sure that ?women are implied, but it would not fit on the album cover!

Our best option is the fusion of concern for humanity and concern for machines (The Man-Woman-Machine). Yet I also predicted a bumpy ride on the way to this position. The hard AI pundits predict a triumph of machines over humanity (Attack of the Clones), whilst we already saw examples of ‘Planet of the Apes’ in the long running strikes on Southern Rail over the vexatious issue of who pushes the button to close the doors. In such debates ‘Darwin’ (natural selection) often wins. For example The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) already has driverless trains. In Southern Rail’s case, it may have been more productive of unions to look at upskilling conductors to perform other duties which rely more on deeply human skills.

The nightmare scenario being discussed on populist media via Musk et al is the ‘War of the Worlds’ approach, which may lead to our ultimate extinction, but, in my opinion, this is also quite an unlikely scenario. Eventually, good prevails, although this is a political choice. Quite why I have recently accepted a job from Gina Miller. Gina leads the True and Fair party, to clean up politics.

Rage Against The Machines

AI is neutral at this particular time. Machines do not have human faults of self-interest, greed or avarice designed in at source. It is humans that determine how AI and machines will ultimately augment or dominate our lives. So, the advent of AI calls upon decision makers, leaders and politicians to install good global governance systems with equity / fairness for humanity if we are to thrive in the 4th industrial age.

Here I list some principles that should inform such people in making good laws to encourage the harmonious union of man, woman and machines into the future.? These are very much in synch with True and Fair party policies on good governance.

1.???? In matters of technology development, Darwin usually wins in the end. It is not therefore an option to try to hold back the march of technology or allow the market to decide.

2.???? We would be better off finding ways to fuse the talents of human beings with those of machines rather than fighting with either. It is equally incoherent to try to design the complexities of humanity solely around the capabilities of machines and digitisation.

3.???? This calls upon us to make good laws concerning the use of artificial intelligence, the potential exploitation of people by machines and to install safeguards against moral hazard by the people who design and install codes of conduct for machines and AI.

4.???? The True and Fair Party’s reforms are pertinent to this area, as they set the ground rules for ethical policy making across a number of areas.

Rage Against The Brexit Machine

Although I am basically an optimist as a businessperson, I am not fully confident that our current crop of politicians are capable of making such good laws. As an example, Rishi Sunak declared Britain to be open without too much restriction for business in the field of AI. What he means is that he is offering a deregulated environment for unscrupulous people to exploit technology, as we are somewhat desperate for inward investment and skilled people after Brexit. Moral hazard in technology application is accelerated when the political environment allows for or even encourages bad practices to develop. We have just seen a graphic example of this with the Mr Bates vs the Post Office tragedy, due to moral hazard by Post Office, Fujistu and myopia by our politicians. Brexit has made us even more vulnerable and therefore somewhat open to opportunism in our desperate desire to develop silicon crescent in Britain.? If we want better laws and good governance, we must work for it rather than sitting on our laptops waiting for things to happen. If you agree, please join the True and Fair party.

AI, truth and fairness

AI also presents issues for trust. We take for granted the authority figures that offer us advice to live our lives. For example, Martin Lewis is regarded as one of the most trustworthy figures regarding money management in the UK. If we are to continue to place trust in authority figures, it will be important to develop the relevant safeguards for ‘deep fakes’ and so on. The Government’s response to the Martin Lewis deep fake scam was to suggest that the online safety bill would cover it. I must say that this is woefully inadequate in terms of speed, the ability to locate the scammers and take action to stop this in time to prevent serious damage to the public. Prevention is better than cure in the AI world. On the question of trust and truth in politics, to quote Elvis on this matter “we can’t go on with suspicious minds”.

Check out Brain Based Enterprises.

Peter Cook

Author, Speaker, Business Consultant

Campaign Manager for Gina Miller, Epsom and Ewell