The Mind’s Mirror: Risk and Reward in the Age of AI

MIT computer scientist Rus and science writer Mone follow up The Heart and the Chip with a rosy assessment of how artificial intelligence might change society. The authors suggest that AI will speed up advancements in medicine, describing how Canadian scientists synthesized a new cancer drug by using AI to first identify “weak spots” in the proteins that contribute to the disease and then to propose designs for drugs that could exploit those weak spots. AI can also provide one-on-one tutoring services, the authors contend, citing a study that found a program capable of adapting “its lessons in real time based on the participant’s engagement” successfully helped narrow one elementary school class’s achievement gap. Rus and Mone express confidence that AI will supplement rather than replace human workers, tackling mundane tasks so that people are free to focus on more creative activities. The authors’ optimistic perspective serves as a refreshing corrective to AI doomsaying, and they offer practical suggestions for curbing what dangers the technology does pose, advocating for federal oversight of AI development and for disclosures to consumers when AI has been used to generate content. This enlightens. (Aug.)