Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine

by Hannah Fry

For the time being, worrying about evil AI is a bit like worrying about overcrowding on Mars.

It’s like the saying among airline pilots that the best flying team has three components: a pilot, a computer and a dog. The computer is there to fly the plane, the pilot is there to feed the dog. And the dog is there to bite the human if it tries to touch the computer.

algorithm aversion. People are less tolerant of an algorithm’s mistakes than of their own – even if their own mistakes are bigger.

One study even showed that you could significantly influence the length of a sentence in a hypothetical case by having a journalist call the judge during a recess and subtly drop a suggested sentence into the conversation. (‘Do you think the sentence in this case should be higher or lower than three years?’)

Since losing to Deep Blue, Garry Kasparov hasn’t turned his back on computers. Quite the opposite. Instead, he has become a great advocate of the idea of ‘Centaur Chess’, where a human player and an algorithm collaborate with one another to compete with another hybrid team. The algorithm assesses the possible consequences of each move, reducing the chance of a blunder, while the human remains in charge of the game. Here’s how Kasparov puts it: ‘When playing with the assistance of computers, we could concentrate on strategic planning instead of spending so much time on calculations. Human creativity was even more paramount under these conditions.’2 The result is chess played at a higher level than has ever been seen before. Perfect tactical play and beautiful, meaningful strategies. The very best of both worlds.