Microsoft CEO Calls For AI Regulation On Facial Recognition

Harin - Dec 10, 2018

To prevent any unintended consequences AI can cause when being exploited, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, is calling for responsible research.

Microsoft is one of many tech firms carrying out research on AI (Artificial Intelligence). And Satya Nadella, the company’s CEO realizes how many challenges they are facing regarding AI. He’s demanding for responsible research to prevent the dooming of society.

In a blog post, he mentioned about this issue and said that AI can be a great tool, but it can also lead to unexpected consequences if not careful, which is why AI needs to be developed responsibly. This will require the intervention from both the public and private sectors.

One particular AI’s aspect that he talks about is facial recognition, which has seen an increase in its use in the industry. He expressed his concern about the use of facial recognition as without laws, the governments can exploit it to discriminate and monitor certain groups of people.

He wrote that many new ideas have been put into test. Going beyond research is crucial. It is time for action to take place.

Nadella requires governments around the world to gather and establish comprehensive AI research and implementation guidelines. We have witnessed how countries like China abuse technology to carry out religious minorities suppression with the country’s Muslim population as an example. Not only lawmakers have to pay attention to this issue, but the private sector also needs to take part in the making of AI regulation.

The one and the only way to prevent a dooming society is to build a foundation that is based on responsibility supporting healthy competition on the market. This requires this technology as well as the organization developing and using it to be governed by the laws.

Besides problems related to racial biases, Microsoft’s CEO also mentioned another AI deep-rooted problem. It is its possibility in invading a person’s privacy as well as carrying out mass surveillance. To combat this problem, full transparency is needed in the technology’s applications. Moreover, comparisons and constant testing also needed to be carried out. Nadella emphasized that if we don’t want the year 2024 to look just like a page from the 1984 novel by British writer George Orwell, all needed measures to prevent the exploitation of AI should be taken.