Cambridge Forum kicks off a new series AI: Servant or Master with Professor Gary Marcus, one of the most trusted voices in artificial intelligence, well-known for his knowledge about the challenges and risks of AI. In his latest book, ‘Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure that AI Works for Us’, Marcus shows how Big Tech is taking advantage of us, how AI could make things much worse, and most importantly, what we can do to safeguard our democracy, our society and our future. Marcus explains the potential risks of AI in the clearest possible terms and how Big Tech has effectively captured policymakers. Marcus offers eight suggestions for what a coherent AI policy should cover from data rights to layered AI oversight to meaningful tax reform.

Marcus is joined by an international expert on AI – Stuart J Russell, Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley. Russell is co-chair of the World Economic Forum Council on AI and the OECD Expert Group on AI Futures; he is also a US representative to the Global Partnership on AI. His textbook “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach” (with Peter Norvig) is used in over 1,500 universities in 135 countries. His current concerns include the threat of autonomous weapons & the long-term future of artificial intelligence and its relation to humanity. The latter topic is the subject of his book, “Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control“.

Speakers

Gary Marcus

In addition to being a scientist and best-selling author, Marcus was founder and CEO of Geometric.AI, a machine learning company acquired by Uber. A Professor Emeritus at NYU, he is the author of five previous books, including Kluge (one of The Economist’s best-sellers on the brain and consciousness), and co-author of Rebooting AI one of Forbes’s seven must-read books on AI.