AI Experts’ New Book Explores How Everyone Can Benefit From AI

Dr. Ayanna Howard is set to become the 12th president of the esteemed HBCU Spelman College. Howard will become the university’s roboticist and artificial intelligence expert.

Additionally, her new book, Rebooting The Machines, is set for release in November. In the book, Dr. Howard acknowledges that AI will take away jobs and opportunities, but she also wants people to understand how to utilise AI to the best of its ability. The future of AI cannot depend on engineers in Silicon Valley; she argues it should come from all of us. With more Black people being pushed out of the workforce due to the increase in AI, how can we build with AI?

In Rebooting The Machines, Dr Howard provides a practical roadmap for what to demand of tech companies and how to ensure we can all benefit from the AI boom.

What young people should know about AI

The introduction of AI has had a significant shift on technology, and it’s just the beginning. Dr Howard believes it could turn out to be the best technological advance ever to happen to humanity—or the worst.

“Which one it will be depends on whether we decide to just go with the flow and let what will happen happen, or take actions to reform AI before AI reforms us—and to stand up and shout loudly enough that there’s no way our voices won’t be heard,” she says.

Young people should not fear AI but manage it. “Why? Because governments and tech companies won’t stop using AI if the public expresses fear; they will just stop telling us about it.”

“The resulting secrecy will leave the technology unregulated and in the hands of a small group of people who are making the calls for their own purposes and according to their own values, all without public oversight or input. Moral panic around AI, then, will not result in the safety guarantees we need and should want.”

What’s the most effective intervention to correct AI bias

Whilst Dr. Howard uses her new books to highlight the benefits of AI, it also demonstrates its failures, including AI bias. “If we continue to program AI that under-indexes, ignores, or downplays the diversity of cultures found in the human race, the development of AI will likely exacerbate long-standing inequalities, or worse,” she says.

“Bringing about the change we desire is possible, but it will require collective action, in which individuals, organizations, and policymakers call out initiatives, algorithms, and devices when they’re not inclusive or when they appear to be biased.”

Dr. Howard believes that it is not just the responsibility of coders and engineers but a collective responsibility.

The rise of AI and loss of job opportunities

A survey conducted by Charter Works found that 53% of Black respondents are afraid of being replaced by AI in comparison to 39% of white respondents. Another 2019 McKinsey study estimated that AI would disrupt 4.5 million jobs held by Black Americans in 2030. So, how can Black communities prepare themselves for an already tough job market where AI is replacing jobs?

Dr. Howard says we have the chance to plan for the changing job market. “The question isn’t whether AI is going to take over our jobs (unfortunately, for many, it has or will), but rather, as AI takes over some of the work humans have historically done, what other jobs will arise out of these relationships and how can we reimagine ourselves as coworkers with AI? “

Image:  Spelman College

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