Where Is A.I. Taking Us? Eight Leading Thinkers Share Their Visions.; The New York Times, February 2, 2026

 The New York Times ; Where Is A.I. Taking Us? Eight Leading Thinkers Share Their Visions.

"People have been working on artificial intelligence for decades. But five years ago, few were predicting that A.I. would break through as the most important technology story of the 2020s — and quite possibly the century. Large language models have turned A.I. into a household topic, but all areas of A.I. have taken great leaps forward.

Now, we are inundated with chatter about how much A.I. will transform our lives and our world. Already, companies are trying to find ways to offload tasks and even entire jobs to A.I. More people are turning to A.I. for social interaction and mental health support. Educators are scrambling to manage students’ increased reliance on these tools. And in the near future A.I. may lead to breakthroughs in drug discovery and energy; it could allow more people to create art and cultural works — or turn these industries into slop factories.

As society wrestles with whether A.I. will lead us into a better future or catastrophic one, Times Opinion turned to eight experts for their predictions on where A.I. may go in the next five years. Listening to them may help us bring out the best and mitigate the worst out of this new technology."

Panel of Distinguished AI Experts Discuss Challenges of AI Regulation with the Honorable Ro Khanna; Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, March 27, 2024

Ann Skeet, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University ; Panel of Distinguished AI Experts Discuss Challenges of AI Regulation with the Honorable Ro Khanna

"Leadership takes many forms, and often the most important thing leaders can do is listen. The Institute for Technology Ethics and Culture at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Santa Clara School of Law hosted a roundtable discussion on March 18, 2024, with Congressman Ro Khanna and leaders from industry, civil society, and academia. Congressman Khanna wanted to hear from experts in his district to inform his thinking about AI regulation. I was honored to moderate the discussion.

Opinions were as diverse as the group bringing them forward. It was observed that many of us are used to speaking so frequently with those in our own field that the chance to connect with those in other areas reveals sharp differences in perspective. Several participants felt, for example, that deepfakes are not something to be too concerned about since they are easily identifiable, whereas others felt there are still many people who struggle to identify them.  People are often confused by false images or voices and as technology advances, this confusion will only deepen."

Philosophers are building ethical algorithms to help control self-driving cars; Quartz, February 28, 2018

Olivia Goldhill, Quartz; Philosophers are building ethical algorithms to help control self-driving cars

"Artificial intelligence experts and roboticists aren’t the only ones working on the problem of autonomous vehicles. Philosophers are also paying close attention to the development of what, from their perspective, looks like a myriad of ethical quandaries on wheels.

The field has been particularly focused over the past few years on one particular philosophical problem posed by self-driving cars: They are a real-life enactment of a moral conundrum known as the Trolley Problem. In this classic scenario, a trolley is going down the tracks towards five people. You can pull a lever to redirect the trolley, but there is one person stuck on the only alternative track. The scenario exposes the moral tension between actively doing versus allowing harm: Is it morally acceptable to kill one to save five, or should you allow five to die rather than actively hurt one?"