How Can AI Be Used Safely? Researchers From Harvard, MIT, IBM & Microsoft Weigh In
A new report by the AAAI defines the current trends and the research challenges required to make AI more capable and reliable, so the technology can be safely used.
Improving an AI system’s trustworthiness and factuality
An AI system is considered factual if it doesn’t output false statements, and its trustworthiness can be improved by including criteria “such as human understandability, robustness, and the incorporation of human values,” the report’s authors stated.
Other criteria to consider are fine-tuning and verifying machine outputs, and replacing complex models with simple understandable models.
[How to Keep AI Trustworthy](https://www.techrepublic.com/resource-library/guide/how-to-keep-ai-trustworthy/)Making AI more ethical and safer
AI is becoming more popular, and this requires greater responsibility for AI systems, according to the report. For example, emerging threats such as AI-driven cybercrime and autonomous weapons require immediate attention, along with the ethical implications of new AI techniques.
Among the most pressing ethical challenges, the top concerns respondents had were:
- Responsibility (49.38%)
This indicates more transparency, accountability, and explainability in AI systems is needed. And, that ethical and safety concerns should be addressed with interdisciplinary collaboration, continuous oversight, and clearer responsibility.
Respondents also cited political and structural barriers, “with concerns that meaningful progress may be hindered by governance and ideological divides.”
Evaluating AI using various factors
Researchers make the case that AI systems introduce “unique evaluation challenges.” Current evaluation approaches focus on benchmark testing, but they said more attention needs to be paid to usability, transparency, and adherence to ethical guidelines.
Implementing AI agents introduces challenges
AI agents have evolved from autonomous problem-solvers to AI frameworks that enhance adaptability, scalability, and cooperation. Yet, the researchers found that the introduction of agentic AI, while providing flexible decision making, has introduced challenges when it comes to efficiency and complexity.
The report’s authors state that integrating AI with generative models “requires balancing adaptability, transparency, and computational feasibility in multi-agent environments.”
More aspects of AI research
Some of the other AI research-related topics covered in the AAAI report include sustainability, artificial general intelligence, social good, hardware, and geopolitical aspects.