The Alignment Problem

‘If you’re going to read one book on artificial intelligence, this is the one.’ New York Times ‘ The Alignment Problem is the best book on the key technical and moral questions of A. I. that I’ve read.’ Ezra Klein Artificial intelligence is rapidly dominating every aspect of our modern lives influencing the news we consume, whether we get a mortgage, and even which friends wish us happy birthday. But as algorithms make ever more decisions on our behalf, how do we ensure they do what we want? And fairly? This conundrum – dubbed ‘The Alignment Problem’ by experts – is the subject of this timely and important book. From the AI program which cheats at computer games to the sexist algorithm behind Google Translate, bestselling author Brian Christian explains how, as AI develops, we rapidly approach a collision between artificial intelligence and ethics. If we stand by, we face a future with unregulated algorithms that propagate our biases – and worse – violate our most sacred values. Urgent and fascinating, this is an accessible primer to the most important issue facing AI researchers today.