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[Breanna Mangels]

Artificial Intelligence: Evolution, Ethics and Public Policy

This is an article based on the book Artificial Intelligence: Evolution, Ethics and Public Policy by Saswat Sarangi and Pankaj Sharma, published by Routledge India in 2018. The book traces the history and evolution of AI, its impact on the global political economy, its ethical challenges and its need for regulation. The book also discusses the Asilomar Principles for Artificial Intelligence, a set of guidelines for the responsible development and use of AI. The book is a timely and important contribution to the debate on AI and its implications for humanity.

The article will summarize the main arguments and insights of the book, as well as provide some critical reflections and questions for further discussion. The article will be divided into four sections:

• The history and evolution of AI

• The emerging danger of AI-induced mass unemployment

• The ethics of AI and the need for regulation

• The policy response has to evolve in parallel

The history and evolution of AI

AI is not a new phenomenon, but a culmination of centuries of scientific and technological progress. The book traces the origins of AI to the ancient Greek philosophers, who speculated about the nature of intelligence and rationality. The book also highlights the contributions of mathematicians, logicians, engineers and computer scientists who laid the foundations for AI, such as Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Claude Shannon, Marvin Minsky and John McCarthy.

The book defines AI as \"the ability of machines to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence\"[^1^]. The book distinguishes between two types of AI: narrow AI and general AI. Narrow AI refers to machines that can perform specific tasks better than humans, such as playing chess or recognizing faces. General AI refers to machines that can match or surpass human intelligence across domains, such as reasoning, learning and creativity. The book argues that while narrow AI is already a reality, general AI is still a distant goal.

The book also identifies three waves of AI development: symbolic AI, connectionist AI and hybrid AI. Symbolic AI is based on logic and rules that represent human knowledge. Connectionist AI is based on neural networks that learn from data. Hybrid AI is based on combining symbolic and connectionist approaches to leverage their strengths and overcome their limitations. The book suggests that hybrid AI is the most promising direction for achieving general AI.

The emerging danger of AI-induced mass unemployment

AI is not only a scientific and technological phenomenon, but also a socio-economic one. The book analyses how AI is primarily driven by capital as the only factor of production, and its consequences for the global political economy. The book argues that AI is unlike any other technology because it can replace both human labor and human capital, creating a scenario of mass unemployment and inequality.

The book cites various studies that estimate the potential impact of AI on jobs and wages. For example, a 2013 study by Frey and Osborne predicted that 47% of US jobs are at risk of automation by 2033[^2^]. A 2016 study by McKinsey estimated that 49% of global work activities are automatable by current technologies[^3^]. A 2017 study by PwC projected that 38% of US jobs are at risk of automation by 2030. The book warns that these estimates may be conservative, as they do not account for the rapid advances in AI capabilities and applications.

The book also discusses the possible solutions to mitigate the negative effects of AI on employment and income distribution. The book explores various proposals such as universal basic income (UBI), progressive taxation, education reform, labor market regulation and social protection. The book acknowledges the merits and challenges of each proposal, but does not endorse any specific one. The book emphasizes that any solution has to be context-specific, evidence-based and politically feasible.

The ethics of AI and the need for regulation

AI is not only a socio-economic phenomenon, but also an ethical one. The book examines the ethical challenges posed by AI and its possible use in undermining natural and fundamental rights. The book identifies four main areas of ethical concern: privacy, security, accountability and human dignity.

Privacy refers to the right to control one's personal information and data. The book argues that AI poses a threat to privacy by enabling mass surveillance

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