The Dangers Of Not Aligning Artificial Intelligence With Human Values

In artificial intelligence (AI), the “alignment problem” refers to the challenges caused by the fact that machines simply do not have the same values as us. In fact, when it comes to values, then at a fundamental level, machines don’t really get much more sophisticated than understanding that 1 is different from 0.

As a society, we are now at a point where we are starting to allow machines to make decisions for us. So how can we expect them to understand that, for example, they should do this in a way that doesn’t involve prejudice towards people of a certain race, gender, or sexuality? Or that the pursuit of speed, or efficiency, or profit, has to be done in a way that respects the ultimate sanctity of human life?

Theoretically, if you tell a self-driving car to navigate from point A to point B, it could just smash its way to its destination, regardless of the cars, pedestrians, or buildings it destroys on its way.

Similarly, as Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom outlined, if you tell an intelligent machine to make paperclips, it might eventually destroy the whole world in its quest for raw materials to turn into paperclips. The principle is that it simply has no concept of the value of human life or materials or that some things are too valuable to be turned into paperclips unless it is specifically taught it.

This forms the basis of the latest book by Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem – How AI Learns Human Values. It’s his third book on the subject of AI following his earlier works, The Most Human Human and Algorithms to Live By. I have always found Christian’s writing enjoyable to read but also highly illuminating, as he doesn’t worry about getting bogged down with computer code or mathematics. But that’s certainly not to say it is in any way lightweight or not intellectual.

Rather, his focus is on the societal, philosophical, and psychological implications of our ever-increasing ability to create thinking, learning machines. If anything, this is the aspect of AI where we need our best thinkers to be concentrating their efforts. The technology, after all, is already here – and it’s only going to get better. What’s far less certain is whether society itself is mature enough and has sufficient safeguards in place to make the most of the amazing opportunities it offers – while preventing the serious problems it could bring with it from becoming a reality.

I recently sat down with Christian to discuss some of the topics. Christian’s work is particularly concerned with the encroachment of computer-aided decision-making into fields such as healthcare, criminal justice, and lending, where there is clearly potential for them to cause problems that could end up affecting people’s lives in very real ways.

“There is this fundamental problem … that has a history that goes back to the 1960s, and MIT cyberneticist Norbert Wiener, who likened these systems to the story of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” Christian tells me.

Most people reading this will probably be familiar with the Disney cartoon in which Mickey Mouse attempts to save himself the effort of doing his master’s chores by using a magic spell to imbue a broom with intelligence and autonomy. The story serves as a good example of the dangers of these qualities when they aren’t accompanied by human values like common sense and judgment.

“Wiener argued that this isn’t the stuff of fairytales. This is the sort of thing that’s waiting for us if we develop these systems that are sufficiently general and powerful … I think we are at a moment in the real world where we are filling the world with these brooms, and this is going to become a real issue.