The White House Scared of Badly Programmed AI

As technology evolves and we integrate it into our everyday lives, the risks that badly programmed software continues to pose a threat to everyone, knowingly or not. While not fearing a complete takeover by the likes of a Skynet-like system, the White House is more worried about the subtle mistakes that could result in any number of horrible outcomes.

The official report titled “Big Data: A Report on Algorithmic Systems, Opportunity, and Civil Rights” was published by the office of the president, highlighting the threat that any system, be it poorly designed or poorly programmed could make in life or death situations.

With computers being used to track everything from credit scores, employment records, and even medical records any misinformation could lead to disastrous results, especially in an age where we are looking at self-driving cars or automated surgery. The suggested solution comes in the form of a framework to help in the testing and designing of software that uses algorithms to make decisions.

The report looks at the effect of big data in regards to our access to Credit, Employment, Higher Education and Justice. With our systems getting bigger and smarter, relying on automated systems reduces the human interaction with each system, putting less strength on judgment and more on logic.