Interview with Iyad Rahwan: "Navigating the Social Dilemmas of AI"

Dr. Iyad Rahwan is an Associate Professor of Media Arts & Sciences at the MIT Media Lab and Director of the Center for Humans and Machines at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

Dr. Rahwan’s research lies at the intersection of the computer and social sciences, with a focus on collective intelligence, large-scale cooperation, and the social aspects of Artificial Intelligence. Recently, his work has focused on the ethics of autonomous vehicles.

“That’s what society does, and the public sphere, and politics, and constitutional rights...they all try to negotiate this utility function of society.”

Jump to a question:

• Who are you and where do you work?

• Do you agree with Nick Bostrom’s claim that AI is forcing us to do “philosophy on a deadline?”

• What is the moral imperative to introduce autonomous cars?

• Why might we want to be circumspect in introducing autonomous cars to the public?

• Are the moral dilemmas around autonomous cars unsolvable?

• What are social dilemmas and how do they emerge in the context of introducing new technologies like AI?

• Which human biases should AI systems correct, and which should they retain?

• How do your concerns compare to those expressed by Nick Bostrom in Superintelligence?

• Whose responsibility is it to make sure autonomous cars are ethical?

• When governments can use AI to make better decisions than human politicians, should we cede more power to governments?

• What would checks and balances look like for an AI-run government?