The common wisdom about Artificial Intelligence is that we are building increasingly intelligent machines that will ultimately surpass human capabilities, steal our jobs, possibly even escape human control and take over the world. Jerry Kaplan, author of Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the age of Artificial intelligence, share with us why his narrative is both misguided and counterproductive. Hal Varian also shares his thoughts in the Q&A.
In his talk, Jerry Kaplan addresses the commonly misplaced fears and misconceptions around Artificial Intelligence. A more appropriate framing–better supported by actual events and current trends—is that AI is simply a natural expansion of longstanding efforts to automate tasks, dating back at least to the start of the industrial revolution. Stripping the field of its gee-whiz apocalyptic gloss makes it easier to predict the likely benefits and pitfalls of this important technology. AI has the potential to usher in a new age of affluence and leisure, but it’s likely to roil labor markets and increase inequality unless we address these pressing societal problems. The robots are certainly coming, but whether they will benefit society as a whole or serve the needs of the few is very much in doubt. Join me for an unorthodox tour of the history of Artificial Intelligence, learn why it is so misunderstood, and what we can do to ensure that the engines of progress don’t motor on without us.
Speaker Info:
Jerry Kaplan is widely known as a serial entrepreneur, technical innovator, bestselling author, and futurist. He co-founded four Silicon Valley startups, two of which became publicly traded companies. His best-selling non-fiction novel “Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure” was selected by Business Week as one of the top ten business books of the year. His latest book, “Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”, was published August, 2015 by Yale University Press. Mr. Kaplan is currently a Fellow at the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, and teaches ethics and impact of Artificial Intelligence in the Computer Science Department. He holds a BA from the University of Chicago in History and Philosophy of Science, and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
]“Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”
