University of Guelph Engineering Prof. Graham Taylor, an expert on artificial intelligence, offered comment in a recent Canadian Press story about the need for international agreements on the use of robotic weapons.
With concerns being raised about the consequences of building artificial intelligence into robotic weapons, Taylor said it’s important to retain human accountability in any decisions about deploying autonomous weaponry.
He noted there’s no widespread regulation regarding the use of AI technologies in military drones, missiles and other weaponry, with many still grappling with how to use the weapons ethically.
Taylor is the head of the University of Guelph’s new Centre for Advancing Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (CARE-AI). One of the aims of the research and teaching centre is to address questions about how to build intelligent machines that still have “morals.”
Members of the new centre will look at the humanistic and social aspects of AI, as well as how to apply machine learning and AI to U of G’s strengths, including human and animal health and environmental sciences.
Graham is a Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning, a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, an academic director of NextAI and a member of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence.