On 22 October 2024, the Geneva Graduate Institute hosted a thought-provoking discussion around the recent book “As If Human: Living in the Age of Intelligent Machines,” co-authored by Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, one of the leading voices in artificial intelligence (AI) research. The event, organized in collaboration with the Swiss Friends of Oxford University (SFOU), took place at The Fab and brought together a diverse audience of students, researchers, and professionals to explore the ethical challenges and societal impacts of AI.
The session began with an introduction by Jerome Duberry, Managing Director of the Tech Hub at the Geneva Graduate Institute, who welcomed attendees and set the stage for an open discussion with Sir Nigel. Moderated by MINT students Vibhaa Sreedharan and Yaqin Zhang, the event encouraged active participation from the audience, making it a dynamic and engaging exploration of AI’s far-reaching influence on human life.
In his opening remarks, Sir Nigel Shadbolt provided a comprehensive overview of the development of AI, tracing its history from early theoretical explorations to the transformative technologies we encounter today. AI’s rapid evolution has oscillated between periods of great enthusiasm and moments of disillusionment, driven by scientific breakthroughs and societal expectations. Recent achievements and deployments have seen renewed claims for the transformative and disruptive effects of AI. However, there is growing concern about how we regulate and govern AI systems, how we ensure that such systems align with human values and ethics, and how we live alongside these new technologies.
Intelligent machines present us every day with urgent ethical challenges. Is the facial recognition software used by an agency fair? When algorithms determine questions of justice, finance, health, and defense, are the decisions proportionate, equitable, transparent, and accountable? How do we harness this extraordinary technology to empower rather than oppress? Despite increasingly sophisticated programming, artificial intelligences share none of our essential human characteristics—sentience, physical sensation, emotional responsiveness, versatile general intelligence. However, if we assess AI decisions, products, and calls for action as if they came from a human being, we can avert a disastrous and amoral future. The authors go beyond the headlines about rampant robots to apply established moral principles in shaping our AI future. Their new framework constitutes a how-to for building a more ethical machine intelligence.
Sir Nigel Shadbolt is Executive Chair of the Open Data Institute, which he co-founded with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and is one of the UK’s foremost computer scientists. He is a leading researcher in artificial intelligence and was one of the originators of the interdisciplinary field of web science. He is Principal of Jesus College Oxford, a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a visiting Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southampton.
In 2009 the Prime Minister appointed him and Sir Tim Berners-Lee as Information Advisors to transform access to Public Sector Information. This work led to the highly acclaimed data.gov.uk site that now provides a portal to tens of thousands of datasets. In 2010, he joined the UK government’s Public Sector Transparency Board – overseeing Open Data releases across the public sector.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow and former President of the British Computer Society. He was knighted in 2013 for ‘services to science and engineering’.