Artificial Intelligence already creeping into our society (part 3)

On May 6, 2010, the stock market plunged 4%, and then in mere minutes, sharply fell another 6%, before mysteriously rebounding almost as quickly. A reactive, computer execution system had caused roughly $2 billion worth of shares to be sold in just seven minutes in reaction to someone's trade, and the ensuing panic exposed the fragility of our stock market. After review, the The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) determined that a computer algorithm was to blame for the incident, and measures have been put in place to prevent computers from causing such sudden, volatile swings in the market. Today, markets depend on the volume generated by high-speed traders and their computers, but the computers don't have a sense of when to intervene during a crisis—they are entirely oblivious to the catastrophic effects that may be caused by certain actions. While it is obvious that computers are an integral part of the stock market, have we allowed them too much of a role in our fragile economy? What kind of oversight is there? What are the failsafes? In the end, the computers were only following their programming, regardless of the possible outcome. As computers have been integrated into vital components of our civilization's infrastructure, it is chilling to consider how far-reaching a computer error can be upon our way of life.