Sennay Ghebreab, head of the Civic AI Lab which aims to develop AI in a socially inclusive manner, was interviewed by Kustaw Bessems for the Volkskrant podcast Stuurloos (in Dutch).
It is a wide-ranging and intelligent conversation about the use of AI at the core of our societal processes. Ghebreab considers technology to be a reflection of society. It exposes how our society is truly functioning, with all its problems. Yet, has also see this an opportunity, giving clarity about what is wrong, and allowing the work towards a more equitable society.
Ghebreab thinks that certain problems (for example in healthcare, or in the relocation of refugees) are very well suited to be worked on by AI, yet other applications of AI are less desirable. In this context, he makes an important distinction between assistive applications of AI and punitive applications. The former allows you more leeway in experimentation, whereas the latter needs you to be extremely careful for any unintended negative consequences.
Listen to Met kunstmatige intelligentie kun je ook iets goeds doen at Volkskrant.
Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL-E artificial intelligence.