Trustworthy AI

Chapter 1A Primer on Modern AI

As a prelude to investigating the dimensions of AI trustworthiness, it is important to clarify what AI is – and what it is not. In popular press and general discussion, AI is often ascribed a sense of self, as if it “thinks” and even has a measure of “volition.” The nouns we use to describe AI projects include “training” and “learning,” concepts typically reserved for thinking creatures. Thus, it is perhaps unsurprising that common ways of talking about AI drift toward conceiving it as a true intellect.

This is quite far from reality. In truth, AI does not “think.” AI tools are in fact highly complex mathematical calculations that have been constructed such that the solution to the calculations accurately describes something in the real world. More than this, AI as a concept is not just a discrete thing. It is as much a collection of model types performing different functions as it is a professional practice area for data scientists and the technology ecosystem that permits their work and the AI they develop.

To better define what we mean when we discuss AI, consider how the field developed to its current maturity and the kinds of AI models in use today.

The Road to Machine Intelligence

Humans have long imagined mechanical tools that act in a seemingly intelligent way. These ideas permeate the stories we tell, from those going back thousands of years to the ones we enjoy today. The automata created by Hephaestus in Greek myths, the mechanical ...