Programming AI to Program...Us? (part 4)

Nick Foster (head of design at Google “X”) envisions the ledger as much more than a tool for self-improvement, however. He believes that the system could “plug gaps in its knowledge and refine its model of human behavior” beyond the individual, but for the entire human species. “By thinking of user data as multigenerational, it becomes possible for emerging users to benefit from the preceding generation’s behaviors and decisions.” Foster would like to mine this database of human behavior for patterns in order to make “increasingly accurate predictions about decisions and future behaviours.” He believes that when enough data has been collected, “it may be possible to develop a species-level understanding of complex issues such as depression, health, and poverty.” While this sounds like a noble intent, the dark side of the equation involves the reactions and determinations that will be made from the collected data. Who is deciding and prescribing how to treat society's ills, Google? And what if you personally don't ascribe to Google's “values as an organization?” What if decisions are made to remove from society things that Google has decided are a risk towards depression, health, or poverty? Have you ever seen the movie, “Equilibrium?” I highly recommend it.