Not Quite the Robot Uprising, But Still a Bit Dodgy

Mind the Algorithms: More Black Mirror than Terminator

👋 Hi, Jay here! Welcome to my newsletter on Substack, exclusively for Product Coalition members.

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Here’s what I’m covering this week

1. 🗒️ STUDY WITH JAY: AI Ethics

2. 🎧 PODCAST: EP62 Ancient wisdom for modern leadership

3. 🤔 EVENT: Breaking Blockchain Barriers: How Chain Abstraction is Shaping the Future of Web3

4. 🎓 MICRO-COURSE: Create Your Own Daily Industry News Podcast

5. 📝 COMMUNITY ARTICLE: Three Reasons to Insist on Outcome-Based Planning

6. 👉 OPEN TO WORK

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STUDY WITH JAY: AI Ethics

“AI won’t take over the world, but it might just politely suggest you refinance your mortgage—whether you need to or not.” – Sir Algorithm IV, Duke of Data

🗒️ Each week I share what I’m studying, with the world. This week I’m studying AI Ethics, and you can find my notebook here (DM me for access requests).

AI masquerade

Study Summary…

Level up your AI ETHICS knowledge in under 15minutes, with the audio summary below (courtesy of NotebookLM), or keep scrolling to read my thoughts, in depth:

Jay’s thoughts…

We’ve all seen the films where AI decides to take over the world, but let’s be honest—real AI’s more likely to give you a dodgy mortgage rate than a robot apocalypse. The reality of AI is a bit more sneaky and, frankly, a lot more important. AI’s now handling everything from your bank loans to diagnosing illnesses, so it’s high time we ask some big ethical questions. Like, how do we make sure AI isn’t a bit of a dick, reinforcing the bad habits of the past?

Grab a cuppa, and let’s wade through the moral swamp of AI ethics, shall we?

The Real Worry: It’s the Quiet Ones You’ve Got to Watch

Forget the terrifying robot revolutions—AI’s ethical nightmares come in the quiet, subtle forms of good ol’ inequality. Algorithms are perfectly capable of recreating society’s worst habits, especially when it comes to jobs, loans, or healthcare. Picture this: you get denied a loan not because you’re bad with money but because some algorithm’s decided you’re too similar to someone who is.

This is why we need frameworks like the White House’s AI Bill of Rights. No, it’s not a superhero movie, but it’s just as dramatic—ensuring AI gets tested like a new medicine before being released to the public. And, of course, there’s an ethical “kill switch” in case things go sideways, like in those robot uprising films… oh wait, that’s not what we’re worried about, right?

AI That’s Safe and Sound—In Theory

The White House reckons AI systems need to be safe and effective. Sounds simple enough, right? Except when it comes to AI, “safe” gets a bit murky. The goal here is to make sure AI is tested within an inch of its life before it’s let loose on the world. You wouldn’t want a healthcare algorithm making assumptions about you based on dodgy data, would you? That’s what happened when an AI system gave Black patients lower risk scores, resulting in sub-par treatment. Not cool.

But making sure AI plays nicely isn’t the only problem. The algorithmic discrimination protections are there to ensure AI isn’t just another tool for inequality. It’s about fairness for everyone, not just the tech crews who built it.

The Battle of the Biases: The Algorithm Strikes Back