HowBigData,OpenAlgorithmsandArtificialIntelligenceCanDriveSmartCitiesandSocieties:
TowardsHumanAIEcologiesEmmanuelLetouzé,PhD
Director,Data-PopAlliance|ProgramDirector,OPALProjectVisitingScholar,MITMediaLab|ConnectionScienceFellow,MIT
SmartStatistics4SmartCitiesSeminarKalamata,Greece,Oct5-62018
• Fakenews.Biases.Automation.Echochambers.Informationoverload.CO2 emissions…
• (Big)Dataisgettingabadname.Aredata,algorithmsandAIthreatstosustainabledevelopmentanddemocracy?
• CanweinsteadenvisionandbuildaworldwhereBigData,OpenAlgorithmsandAIdrivebetter,fairer,moresustainableandmoreresilientcitiesandsocieties?
• Let’scallthese”HumanArtificialIntelligence”ecologies.Whatwoulditlooklike,andtake?
Howdo(es)AI(s)Work?
Isthisacityorabeach?
1. Trytoguess/recognize.RightorWrong?
2. Correct:+1.Reward!
3. Incorrect:-1.Penalty!
4. Repeatandlearnthroughmanyfeedbackloops.
è (The)machine(is)learning
BigDataandAIs
Artificialintelligenceisthesimulationofhumanintelligenceprocessesbycomputersystems,especiallyartificialneuralnetworks (ANNs)inspiredbythe biologicalneuralnetworks thatconstituteanimal brains,whichcan"learn"(i.e.progressivelyimproveperformanceon)throughiterationsandfeedback.AIsarepoweredbyalgorithmsthatlearntoautomatepartsoralloftasks,andthemachinestheypower.(It’salsowhathasnotbeeninventedyet).
Input(s)
Hiddenlayer(s)
Output(s)
IsAIsomenew(black)magic?No…but…No…1. Itisatleast60+yearsold.2. Itstillgeneralizespoorly.It
hasnosenseofcontext.Itisstillprettystupid.
3. WearefarfromgeneralAI.4. Humansarestillincontrol
(forbetterorworse)
…but…1. The(good)magic/coreofthecurrentAIis
thecreditassignmentfunctiontoencourageandreinforceneurons/functionsthathelpthemostachievethegoal(andreverseifnot)
2. Thekeydifferenceandisdata.BigData.
SomeEarlyApplications
HometoClinicsCommuteinMéxico
Source:Noriega,Pentland
But:Power,Politics,Privacy.WhoHasAccesstoData,How,toDoWhat?Next:Implications.
Source:Letouzé,2013 Source:Letouzé,2014
ANDCULTURE
BigLongTermVision:Towards“HumanAI”ecologies
“ThebigquestionthatI'maskingmyselfthesedaysishowcanwemakeahumanartificialintelligence?(…)Idon'twanttothinksmall—peopletalkaboutrobotsandstuff—Iwantthistobeglobal.(…)Whatwouldhappenifyouhadanetworkofpeoplewhereyoucouldreinforcetheonesthatwerehelpingandmaybediscouragetheonesthatweren't?Thatbeginstosoundlikeasocietyoracompany”.
TheHumanStrategy.www.thehumanstrategy.mit.edu
MITProfAlex‘Sandy’Pentland:
TakingthekeyinsightsofAIespecially• roleofdata• creditassignmentfunction
reinforcing“neurons”thatwork (teams,groups,policies)throughlearning
+applyingthisgeneralframeworktoentiresocieties
1. Key principle
Leveraginghuman-machinecomplementarities:• humansdothestrategyandoversightandmachinesdothetacticsandbookkeeping• Humans+Machines>>HumansorMachines• Newjobswillbecreated(e.g.machineprisonguardsbutmoresocialworkers)• Resultingecologiesaremoreagileandresilient
2. Key features
• Good dataonthesystem’sfunctioningandperformance• Goodfeedbackandresponsesystems(i.e.“humanorsocietyintheloop”)• Somegeneralagreementoninputs(facts)andoutputs(goals)• Sufficienthumanskillsandtrusttooversee,implement.learn,adapt,andagain
3. Key requirements
Visionofa“HumanAI”
MainChallengestoaHumanAI
1. Somepowerfulagentshavestrongincentivesforthisnottowork (e.g.economicandpoliticalmonopoliesbenefitfromstatusquo)
2. Mostsocieties/countriescurrentlylacktheappropriatedataconnections,capacities,andcultureforthis
3. Thereiswidespread(andgrowing?)digitalandanalogsegregation withdistrust,disdain,echochambers,alternativefactsnarratives,hamperingcooperationandconsensusbuilding
4. WeknowAIcanandhasbeenusedtonurture3.(cf Facebooknewsfeed;AmazonPrime..)
“OpenAlgorithms”:ABoldNewVisionandProject
OPAL:1st GenerationDataSystemsandStandards2.Certifiedopenalgorithmsdevelopedbydevelopersaresentandrunontheserversofpartnerprivatecompanies,behindtheirfirewalls.
1.Partnerprivatecompanies(hereatelecomoperator)allowOPALto
accessitsserversthroughasecuredplatform.Thedataneverleave theservers.
3.AgovernancesystemincludingaCouncilfortheOrientationsofDevelopmentandEthics(CODE)ensuresthatthealgorithmsandusecasesareethicallysound,contextrelevant,etc.;usersbenefitfromcapacity
buildingactivities
4.Keyindicatorsderivedfromprivatesectordatasuchaspopulationdensity,povertylevels,ormobilitypatterns,feedintousecasesinvariouspublicpolicyandeconomicdomains.Dataaresafe,minimized,used(more)ethically.
OPALStartedwith2pilotsinColombiaandSenegalwith2MajorTelcos andtheirNSOs
Founders Mainfunder
Keypartners
Keytoallthis:BuildingCapacitiesandConnections
“Wedefinedataliteracyas“literacyintheageofdata”,i.e.“thedesireandabilitytoconstructivelyengageinsocietythroughoraboutdata”.
ThefightagainstilliteracygoesonparwithanincreaseinthecontrolofthePowerovercitizens.”
"Writingisastrangething.Ifmyhypothesisiscorrect,theprimaryfunctionofwriting,asameansofcommunication,istofacilitatetheenslavementofotherhumanbeings”.