Page 61 - Monocle Quarterly Journal Vol 3 Issue 2 Spring

opposed to the advancement of these technologies. But in fact, they could be seen as something of a success. That is because AI can – and often should – behave in ways that its human creators might not expect. In fact, it may even be these non-human moments, which are defined by analysis that is not constrained by our social norms, that yield the most promising insights.
But despite glimmers of potential, what these examples show is that the very design and the most prominent feature of AI, namely its ability to learn, also makes it fragile and very susceptible to manipulation.
3.4 CYBER GUNS
On April 20, 1999, 17-year-old Eric Harris and 18-year-old Dylan Klebold walked into their high school in Colorado armed with two sawn-off shotguns, a TEC- 9 semi-automatic handgun, a 9mm Hi-Point carbine, a pair of knives, and dozens of homemade bombs of various shapes and sizes. In what was to become one of the most infamous school shootings of all time and the focal point for Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling for Columbine (2002), the Columbine High School massacre resulted in the death of twelve students and one teacher, with 21 others being severely injured. Between the moment the shooting began at 11:19am on that Tuesday morning and when the boys committed suicide in the cafeteria almost an hour later, they managed to fire off close to 200 rounds of ammunition from four different weapons. Since 1999, there have been an average of 10 school shootings per year in the United States of America, with the Parkland shooting in Florida being the 18th school shooting of 2018 – the highest in any year since Columbine. And despite the tremendous national outcry since the Parkland shooting for the government to reconsider gun regulations, the Trump administration may have just made it even easier for anyone – a child, a criminal, or the mentally ill – to acquire a firearm in
Artificial intelligence can only be as good as its environ- ment, and more specifically, the training data it receives, as the case of Tay.ai clearly proves. And as industries such as banking begin to adopt new AI solutions to improve their offerings and streamline efficiencies, it may be worth taking this note to heart. No matter how well- intentioned the application may be, without planning for the worst-case scenario and having the foresight to expect nefarious forces to manipulate your program, your AI project may quickly turn into a public relations nightmare. 
the future, without screening, background checks, or an assessment of any kind.
After a four-year legal battle between the Federal Government and pro-gun organisation Defense Distri-
... the Trump administration may have just made it
even easier for anyone – a child,
a criminal, or the mentally ill – to
acquire a firearm in the future ...
buted, the decision was made by the US State Department to settle a case that would allow Defense Distributed CEO, Cody Wilson, to distribute the blueprints for the manufacture of 3D printed guns, effective from August 1, 2018. In a last-ditch effort to block the distribution of these design templates, Attorneys General from eight states came together to challenge the ruling that would effectively facilitate the manufacture of unlicensed, untraceable and near-undetectable “ghost guns.” The
CYBER GUNS
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