Why AI Cannot Be Trusted |
Proponents of artificial intelligence (AI), and especially individuals with a personal incentive to promote investments in the field, often talk about creating and selling AI products that clients can trust. In so doing, however, they reveal a deep misunderstanding of the nature of trust and what it takes to become trustworthy. To gain truly profound insight into trust, we should look not to Silicon Valley’s marketing but to cultural resources that have stood the test of time. One such resource is Homer’s Odyssey.
The Odyssey tells the tale of the profound longing for home of its hero Odysseus, who spent 10 years laying siege to Troy and has sacrificed another decade trying to get back to Ithaca. As one of my teachers pointed out decades ago, The Odyssey is also about the homecoming of his wife, Penelope, who never left the place, yet has also become a stranger to it. Despite never leaving, her home has suffered so many degradations that it, too, requires restoration.
On his sea voyage home, Odysseus is confronted by numerous terrors, including monsters of the deep, a man-eating giant, a land of forgetfulness, and a hostile god, Poseidon. Yet, seemingly against all odds, he eventually finds his way back to Ithaca, where his dog, his father, his wife, his son whom he last saw as an infant, and a........