“In my mind, all this puts even state-of-the-art current AI systems in a position where professional responsibility dictates the avoidance of them in any serious application.”
And yet here we are with what we all think of as serious and seriously useful applications.
“My first 20 years of research were in formal methods, where mathematics and logic are used to ensure systems operate according to precise formal specifications, or at least to support verification of implemented systems.”
I think recommending avoiding building anything serious in the field until your outdated verification methodology catches up is unreasonably cynical, but also naive because it discards the true nature of our global society and assumes a lab environment where this kind of control is possible.
Author here. Unfair point, article makes clear I don't expect "outdated verification methodology" to catch up - and I even link that pessimistic expectation with the issue of emergence that fatally undermines NNs.
Point about lab vs reality is fair.
And yet here we are with what we all think of as serious and seriously useful applications.
“My first 20 years of research were in formal methods, where mathematics and logic are used to ensure systems operate according to precise formal specifications, or at least to support verification of implemented systems.”
I think recommending avoiding building anything serious in the field until your outdated verification methodology catches up is unreasonably cynical, but also naive because it discards the true nature of our global society and assumes a lab environment where this kind of control is possible.