Why do we trust AI systems so readily? Is it because the answers sound so good and professional? Is it because we\u2019ve learned (kudos to the art of engineering) that computers are accurate (and because we lack the intuitive understanding that AI \u201cticks\u201d in a completely different way than previous algorithmic systems)? <\/p>\n\n
Why do we “trust” at all?
So many questions…<\/p>\n\n
Here are a few ideas on this topic:
Trust gets betrayed\u2014sometimes. Sometimes even more often. Sometimes just a little, sometimes really badly. We learn that, too. And we also learn how to recognize it\u2014at least when it comes to people. Certain behaviors make us wary; we often recognize \u201cuntrustworthy\u201d people very quickly and very intuitively. <\/p>\n\n
And so each of us has a context in which we can easily understand the “concept of trust” and also have a certain sense of it.<\/p>\n\n
Then came the engineers and computer scientists, who built machines that produce reproducible results that are almost always correct. We trust calculators, computers, and many types of software and databases more than we trust ourselves. This laid the foundation for trust in an entire technology. Many of us grew up with computers as an integral part of our \u201ctrustworthy\u201d environment. <\/p>\n\n
AI is different here.
The more we work with AI systems\u2014and the better they become\u2014the more important it becomes to figure out how to bring our intuitive concept of trust into this world. Sure, critical thinking, not believing everything, and AI literacy\u2014all of that helps. But that tends to happen at the operational level. <\/p>\n\n
Deep down, we need a new kind of intuition. And it must not be based on complacency. <\/p>\n\n
Exciting times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"