Events

Can we build moral machines?

How can we ensure that AI acts for good instead of evil?  Where do we draw the line between acceptable and bad behaviour?

Next in our ‘Friends of CAIDE’ series, we are proud to host Professor Toby Walsh from the University of New South Wales 

Professor Walsh a world-leading researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, joins us to launch his book Machines behaving badly: The morality of AI, which explores the ethical considerations and unexpected consequences posed by AI. Is Alexa racist? Can robots have rights? What happens if a self-driving car kills someone? What limitations should we put on the use of facial recognition?

Join us to discuss the moral choices we must make in programming AI.

Download this event to your calendar using the link at the top of this page.

2022 Miegunyah Public Lecture Presented by Professor Benjamin Cashore

Professor Cashore will argue that traditional approaches to environmental and resource management are poorly suited for ameliorating ‘super wicked’ policy challenges. This class of pernicious problems, which include the climate, biodiversity and COVID-19 crises, requires careful attention to four key features: time is running out; there is no central authority; those causing the problem also want to solve it; and there is irrational discounting of the future. Cashore will argue that when these features exist, ‘path dependency’ analysis is required to achieve two design imperatives: locking-in durable policy objectives that are under constant short term pressures for change; and the creation of authoritative “thermostatic” institutions capable of producing swift changes in policy settings, calibrations and tools to maintain these objectives (just the way a house’s thermostatic system adapts to changes in the outside temperature to maintain a desired internal temperature). The talk will identify the key features of super wicked problems, discuss the thermostatic imperative, and reflect on the importance of stakeholder engagement for fostering innovative path dependency strategies.

Moderator

Professor Robyn Eckersley

Robyn Eckersley is Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor in Political Science at the University of Melbourne and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. She has published widely in the fields of environmental political theory, the greening of states, and International Relations, with a special focus on the ethics, politics and governance of climate change.