60 LEADERS ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - From Algorithms to Ethics. A holistic view of AI

I am very excited to announce that a very special project is going live soon: ‘60 LEADERS ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’. This special book is a product of ‘open collaboration’ of 60+ global thought leaders who share their unique views on AI, in the spirit of knowledge exchange. But why produce such a book? Artificial Intelligence is changing our world — the ways we work, live, study, collaborate, decide, and act as individuals or societies. However, AI has become yet another buzzword. People and companies tend to overuse the term. The media loves the edge cases of AI – both success stories and dystopias inspired by General or Super-AI, e.g. AI exceeding human intelligence, robots taking control, and so on. As a result, the level of understanding of both the opportunity that AI brings and the real risk from its misuse is rather limited in the general population. The big question is, how can we ensure that Artificial Intelligence is used in the interest of individuals and societies? I believe that the first step in this direction should be to increase the awareness and level of understanding of AI in the general population. We need to educate people about AI and its applications, to demystify AI and present it in a realistic, non-technical, yet precise way; to remove the hype and uncover the real risks and ethical concerns, and layout strategies to address them. We all need to realize the potential that AI brings to humanity, but also understand the threats of misusing it. Raising the understanding of AI among the general population will allow our societies to adapt faster to the new technology landscape and embrace Artificial Intelligence as a ‘smart tool’ that augments people and helps us all to achieve more. The need to raise general awareness was my point of inspiration for producing ‘60 Leaders on AI’ — an ebook that captures the latest about technical, business, societal and ethical aspects of Artificial Intelligence. But instead of a single authority writing this book, I am inviting 60 global leaders - CxOs, academics, researchers, technologists, data scientists, and entrepreneurs to answer a range of ‘tough’ questions on the various aspects of AI. The result? A holistic view of Artificial Intelligence, covering the state-of-the-art, the risks, and the impact on businesses and societies - an amazing collection of thoughts characterized by a plurality of ideas, unique insights, and truly interesting perspectives. The book is organized into 17 chapters, each corresponding to one question which is then answered by various leaders. You will find answers to questions like “What is the most impressive task that AI can accomplish today?”, “How could a ‘conventional’ company transform itself into a data-driven, AI-powered organization?”, “What are the ethical concerns regarding the massive power and the general adoption of AI?”, “How is AI changing the global, geopolitical system?”, ”Will AI become capable of replicating or redefining itself?”, and many more. And of course, this eBook is offered for free at 60Leaders.com/ai