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”.

Thankyou

eletouze@opalproject.org@mit.edu

@datapopalliance.org