Professor Ian Kerr appears on the cover of the Canadian Bar Association’s CBA National magazine this month for a feature article concerning the threat of advances in the development of Artificial Intelligence, and the failure to create a sufficient policy framework for cutting-edge technologies.
“There is little consensus in the scientific community about how close we are to creating AI that exceeds or even approaches human intelligence, also known as ‘the technological singularity,’” writes Agnese Smith, author of the feature. “It could take 20 or 100 years — or it might never happen. And these debates would have remained in academic corridors had certain technology and scientific luminaries not issued dire warnings that AI might someday destroy humanity.”
Much of Prof. Kerr’s current research focuses on the ethics and legal aspects of delegating tasks and decision-making to machines, and the relinquishment of human control that comes with increased automation.
“Governments should consult AI researchers, as well as those focused on law and policy issues, about AI’s possible effects—long and short term,” says Prof. Kerr. “They should concentrate their efforts on developing frameworks for technologies that are here and now. That said, they absolutely must do so with a view to rapid expansion in the future.”