AI Philosopher King

Howdy from Durham,

It’s safe to say that baseball season is here.

I’ve been to 1 Duke baseball game, 2 Durham Bulls games, and helped coach 3 Little League practices/games this past week.

Enough about baseball. Today, we’re talkin’ about AI ethics.

I was talkin’ with my buddy Pete about what we’d be when we grew up.

It was fall 2020. My college buddy, Pete, asked me where he thought our careers would take us.

We had both been working roles within software development, and we were spending our time imagining what the tech industry would look like after the pandemic.

I was ready for this question. Just a few days prior, I had written down 3 things that I wanted to gain experience in before leaving my corporate consulting gig: 1. Design 2. Product Management 3. AI.

“I think there’s going to be something like an AI Philosopher King role in the future - someone who gets paid to pontificate upon the ethical considerations of AI,” I said.

“Woah,” said Pete. “That’d be wild.”

Now, admittedly, the name “AI Philosopher King” isn’t really a good one.

In fact, it’s pretty darn bad. Upon hearing it, you’d think that I am insinuating that I want an AI to rule over us as a king.

That’s not what I mean at all.

Philosopher King is a nod to Plato’s Republic where he depicts the “ideal” ruler - someone who possesses both philosophical knowledge and political power. They combine an understanding of reality with a strong set of virtues to govern fairly.

Can we trust a single person to rule justly as Plato seemed to have insinuated? I don’t think so. Checks and balances are essential, but that’s not what I’m getting at.

I more-so was asking the question, “how cool would it be if your job was to think about the convergence of emerging technology, philosophy, and theology?”

No, you wouldn’t be the sole person to dictate how we should steward AI. Instead, I envisioned being a part of a larger group of folks relying on ancient wisdom to help guide the future of ethical, emerging tech.

Well, just a short 2.5 years later, that role doesn’t seem too far-fetched.

The thing about philosophy and theology is that it’s not about providing the right answers but about asking the right questions.

Things such as:

• Well-being - what does it mean to automate medical decisions?

• Truth - how might information curated by AI impact civil discourse?

• Equity - how might we fairly restructure an economy that has automated jobs?

These questions seem daunting, but we have thousands of years of philosophy and theology that can help guide our thinking on the new frontier of well-being, truth, and equity.

The convergence of these topics and technology isn’t new either.

Every advancement in technology has a tall ceiling of the good we can do, but it always carries an equally matched basement of despair that we can bring about if we aren’t careful.

The industrial revolution that is currently unfolding (our 4th by modern terms) is no different.

It’s simply of a greater order of magnitude than anything that has preceded it (though, I suspect folks said the same about the one before this…and the one before that…and the one before that one too).

Indeed, for every ounce of excitement I have about technology improving our society, there is an equal ounce of anxiety within me on how these tools might be used maliciously.

Here are just a few thoughts on specific things to be excited about and things we need to think critically about.

The good we will be able to do:

• Curing certain diseases

• Personalizing education

• Decreasing our environmental impact

The bad we need to look out for:

• Training AI with biased data

• Deploying AI before it’s been safely vetted

• Failing to up-skill workers whose jobs have been automated

Perhaps “AI Design Ethicist” is a better name for the role I once deemed a modern day version of Plato’s Philosopher King.

The role is still taking shape in my head, but it’s existence seems all but certain.

The bottom line: we’ll need large teams of folks from all backgrounds that can bring ancient wisdom into the 21st century.

Many thanks to my buddy, Pete, for the conversation a couple years back, to my other buddy, Nick, for a phone conversation this past week that brought this piece to life, and to my friend, Michelle for giving me the courage to name the piece after the ridiculous title, “AI Philosopher King.”

It’s a solemn reminder that, no matter how advanced we become, a conversation with a friend can bring us more clarity than a computer ever could.

What I’m paying attention to:

A ~45min podcast from the CHT which breaks down complex AI ethics questions in simple terms.

Photo of the week:

Thanks for reading

What topics around AI are on your mind?

Reply and let me know!

Josh

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