Safety measures can spur AI's growth, not stifle it: Panellists

Safety measures can foster artificial intelligence (AI) innovations by preventing unintended harm and building public trust, said Professor Dawn Song from the University of California, Berkeley.

- Hazel Tang HW

Likening AI safety measures to seat belts in the early days of driving, she said these guard rails will not stifle AI innovation in the same way that seat belts do not slow down the development of the automotive industry.

Rather, seat belts have fostered more confident driving, contributing to advancements in overall automotive safety and development, she said.

Prof Song was speaking at a discussion about securing AI's future with science-based safety on May 28 at the Asia Tech x Singapore conference held at Capella Singapore.

"AI safety... can help you to innovate faster... (and also) in a safer way... It is not there to slow things down," she said.

AI safety was a common theme at the conference, where many speakers acknowledged that its harms have to be minimized either through regulation or some form of global consensus.

Past cases of AI biases that caused massive embarrassments and harmed minority groups offered some lessons.

A 2016 investigation led by US publication ProPublica found that a criminal justice algorithm used by the US courts wrongly flagged black defendants as high risk for reoffending, nearly twice the rate of white defendants.