RSA Salon: The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Join us as we reinvent the Enlightenment Salon for the challenges of the 21^st century!

The power and reach of artificial intelligence is growing: as machines become more sophisticated, they are handed more influence over decisions affecting all areas of our lives, from the workplace to the criminal justice system.

Such breakthroughs carry the potential for both benefits and risks. Optimistic versions of an AI-assisted future predict a safe, healthy, efficient world where smart machines work for the common good; but we can’t ignore the potential threats to privacy, security, and psychological well-being, or the capacity for political manipulation.

So how can we ensure the benefits are harnessed and shared, and the risks minimised? What kind of trade-offs should we be prepared for? What conditions must prevail to ensure AI is deployed safely and fairly, recognising human individuality and autonomy? And how important is it for us to understand how and why algorithms make the decisions they make?

The RSA believes that ethical AI must be informed by inclusive public dialogue. This special RSA Salon is an invitation to a meaningful conversation the sort of society we wish to build in an increasingly automated world.

In order to harness the power of civic discourse, the Salon format features a short introduction by a leading thinker on a formidable civic challenge, followed by lively, moderated group conversation at round tables. This is a participatory event; everyone is welcome and warmly encouraged to contribute. All RSA Salons take place in the RSA’s extraordinary Great Room - a hub of great ideas and civic action since the 18^th century.

To celebrate the opening of the RSA’s new coffeehouse, Rawthmells, we’re bringing together a series of powerful conversations and sharing the best ideas on some of the challenges we face as a society in the next decade and beyond.

Explore the full calendar of events and join the conversation.