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AI feels like an unstoppable force. But it is not a panacea for businesses or society


Because it can only learn from the past, AI won’t be able to warn us of new or emerging risks.

Modern humans have been up to all sorts of things that present similar unintended consequences, from using CFCs that led to a hole in the ozone layer to building systems that they do not understand or cannot fully control. Scharfsinn/Shutterstock Amazon learned the hard way about letting “prediction machines” make decisions when its internal hiring tool discriminated against women as it was trained on a database spanning a ten-year period that skewed towards males. The founder of sportswear manufacturer Under Armour, former college football player Kevin Plank, used the discomfort from sweaty cotton undershirts as an opportunity to develop clothing using microfibres that draw moisture away from the body.

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The Use of Knowledge in Society (1945) [pdf]