Chapter 9
The Next Frontier
AI and the Bits World of the Future
In Chapter 1, “Digital Explosion,” we met Nicolette, the woman who did not get a second job interview after her first interview was conducted by a computer program. Nicolette’s frustration with not knowing the basis for the decision against her is a canonical manifestation of misgivings about the very nature and use of artificial intelligence. In the past, many thinkers have speculated on the potential of intelligent devices and have formulated abstract principles that could be used to guide their performance. In 1950, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov posited three “Laws of Robotics”:
First Law
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to ...
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