This is an age of artificial intelligence (AI) driven automation and autonomous machines. The increasing ubiquity and rapidly expanding potential of self-improving, self-replicating, autonomous intelligent machines has spurred a massive automation driven transformation of human ecosystems in cyberspace, geospace and space (CGS). As seen across nations, there is already a growing trend towards increasingly entrusting complex decision processes to these rapidly evolving AI systems. From granting parole to diagnosing diseases, college admissions to job interviews, managing trades to granting credits, autonomous vehicles to autonomous weapons, the rapidly evolving AI systems are increasingly being adopted by individuals and entities across nations: its government, industries, organizations and academia (NGIOA).
Individually and collectively, the promise and perils of these evolving AI systems are raising serious concerns for the accuracy, fairness, transparency, trust, ethics, privacy and security of the future of humanity -- prompting calls for regulation of artificial intelligence design, development and deployment.
While the fear of any disruptive technology, technological transformation, and its associated changes giving rise to calls for the governments to regulate new technologies in a responsible manner are nothing new, regulating a technology like artificial intelligence is an entirely different kind of challenge. This is because while AI can be transparent, transformative, democratized, and easily distributed, it also touches every sector of global economy and can even put the security of the entire future of humanity at risk. There is no doubt that artificial intelligence has the potential to be misused or that it can behave in unpredictable and harmful ways towards humanity—so much so that entire human civilization could be at risk.
While there has been some -- much-needed -- focus on the role of ethics, privacy and morals in this debate, security, which is equally significant, is often completely ignored. That brings us to an important question: Are ethics and privacy guidelines enough to regulate AI? We need to not only make AI transparent, accountable and fair, but we need to also create a focus on its security risks.
