Introduction to AI Safety, Ethics and Society

Abstract

This textbook aims to provide a comprehensive approach to understanding AI risk, consolidating fragmented knowledge on AI risk, increasing the precision of core ideas and reducing barriers to entry by making content simpler and more comprehensible. The book is designed to be accessible to readers from diverse backgrounds, encompassing concepts and frameworks from the fields of engineering, economics, biology, complex systems, philosophy and other disciplines that provide insights into AI risks and how to manage them. The content falls into three sections: AI and Societal-Scale Risks, Safety, and Ethics and Society. The AI and Societal-Scale Risks section outlines major categories of AI risks and introduces key features of modern AI systems. The Safety section discusses how to make individual AI systems safer. The Ethics and Society section focuses on how to instill beneficial objectives and constraints in AI systems and how to enable effective collaboration between stakeholders to mitigate risks. The textbook’s content moves beyond the confines of machine learning to provide a holistic understanding of AI risk, drawing on well-established ideas and frameworks from a wide array of disciplines. – AI-generated abstract