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Artificial intelligence: Cannibal or missionary?

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Abstract

Some of the concerns people have about AI are: its misuses, effect on unemployment, and its potential for dehumanising. Contrary to what most people believe and fear, AI can lead to respect for the enormous power and complexity of the human mind. It is potentially very dangerous for users in the public domain to impute much more inferential power to computer systems, which look common-sensical, than they actually have. No matter how impressive AI programs may be, we must be aware of their limitations and should not abrogate human responsibility to such programs.

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This is an edited transcript of a talk given to theAI for Society Conference, Brighton Polytechnic.

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Boden, M. Artificial intelligence: Cannibal or missionary?. AI & Soc 1, 17–23 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01905886

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