My Personal AI Philosophy

Artificial intelligence is a technology and a tool. I believe it’s important to learn about new technologies and tools in your field. As a data scientist and a technology-curious person, I use AI.

Here are some of my personal guidelines for using AI:

Disclose AI Use

1

The humans do the thinking. AI does the helping. We don’t want AI to create our content, art, writing, etc. I do, however, desperately need an editor and sometimes good questions to pull decent content out of me. Always start with our own first pass.

Start with my own draft

2

Treat AI like an overly enthusiastic trainee that steals from us when we aren’t looking. AI wants us engaged, so it will tell us what we want to hear. At the very least, AI frames our “opportunities” positively. At its worst, AI has validated folks into delusions and debilitating, if not deadly, mental illness. AI works in the currency of our engagement, so we need to be mindful about how we engage.

Work Efficiently

3

Transparency with technology is essential. It builds trust and helps folks know what kind of content they are consuming.

Wise Engagement

4

Be efficient in our AI use. The more we engage with AI, the more resources it consumes. Those resources are currently being stolen from communities already in crisis.

Lastly, but maybe most importantly, AI is destroying the environment, and to use it ethically, we must stay engaged. Choose which models and companies we support wisely. Write to our representatives. Stay angry.

We embrace paradoxes here: we can use AI and fight for its government regulation, the environment, and communities in crisis.

Organizations that are currently involved in appropriate AI policy and advocacy:

The Algorithmic Justice League
Center for AI and Digital Policy
Electronic Frontier Foundation