10 AI Principles

The following ten principles about AI are ideas I put together to hone in on how I believe we should approach and think of AI.

AI is here now, it should not be ignored.

Refusing to acknowledge the reality of AI being here will not prevent the negative effects of its existence from impacting you. This is like the parable of the ostrich burying its head in the sand, which is a metaphor for avoiding or ignoring problems or challenges in the hope they will disappear, rather than facing them directly. I know people who essentially try to pretend like AI isn’t here.

AI’s existence cannot be prevented by regular people.

For the average person like me, there is not much we can do to impact adoption of AI. For us, our individual energy is more effectively spent trying to figure out how to maximize any benefit from it to ourselves and our loved-ones, while trying to mitigate or minimize the potential negative impacts. I don’t feel this is a defeatist attitude, but rather being practical and realistic. The people who can make a more substantial impact on AI (politicians and billionaires) seem very intent on its development and proliferation.

AI should be understood for how it impacts your life.

Since AI is here, and we’re not realistically going to be able to “put that genie back in the bottle”, it is wise to invest some effort into trying to understand how AI can impact our lives. Not doing so would be like somebody in the 1980’s not putting any effort into trying to understand computers, or in the 2000’s not trying to understand the internet. AI will rapidly transition from novelty to ubiquity in a relatively short period of time. Not understanding AI will be a detriment to your livelihood.

AI literacy will be a basic skill not a specialization.

Just like reading, basic computer use, or internet literacy became essential in modern life, understanding how to interact with AI tools will become a necessary life skill. This doesn’t mean everyone must become a data scientist, but people should understand what AI is, where it’s used, and how to engage with it responsibly.

AI is not all good nor all bad.

Some people are super excited and enthusiastic about AI. Others are incredibly pessimistic about it. I believe it is wise to hold a balanced approach to AI with a mindset of appreciating potential benefits, while acknowledging and trying to mitigate the risks. There aren’t so many things in life that are absolutely, 100% good, nor 100% bad. Life is not so black and white. AI can help with medical research, to help cure difficult diseases, create cures, and solve difficult scientific problems that impact society, but AI will also disrupt economies and job markets, and can also be used for scams and crimes.

AI should serve people, not replace them.

There’s growing concern that AI will lead to job displacement or reduce human roles to oversight. While automation is part of technological evolution, AI should be designed and used to empower people, not sideline them. Areas of investment should be on augmentation and support, not wholesale replacement.

AI will not solve problems the way humans do.

As AI is ultimately derived from non-biological computer programming, logic, and mathematics, its method for solving questions or problems will be very different from how biological humans approach problem solving. This can be compared to the classic parable about being careful in how you ask a genie to grant you wishes. If you are not precise and careful in what you wish for, the genie might grant the wish in an unexpected and unfortunate way.

AI will change and improve.

There is a feedback loop concept whereby the improvements to AI will beget faster or more significant improvements over time. Any AI systems that seem insufficient now will undoubtedly be much improved in the future. As such, believing that AI will not impact a particular vocation, professional field, or area of society because AI is currently not good at it is a misguided mindset.

AI might imitate humans well but it isn’t human.

This might seem like an obvious thing to say, but as AI systems become better at mimicking human conversational patterns, speech, and behaviors, some people will undoubtedly begin to attribute human qualities and values to AI. This would be a mistake, and would lead to people attributing human-like motives or insight where there is none.

AI control matters to everyone.

AI systems reflect the goals and values of their creators. If AI is controlled by a few large corporations or governments, it could reinforce inequality or be used for manipulation. Transparency, accountability, and democratic oversight are essential to ensure AI benefits everyone, not just a powerful few.