How many of the decisions you’ve made today do you think were truly your own? 

Was your decision to take the slightly longer route to work this morning really made on a whim, or was it taken after consulting Citymapper on the best route for avoiding rain?  Did you really stumble upon Ready Player One – the audio book you listened to on the journey in – or was it recommended to you by Audible because of your previous interest in several other books brilliantly narrated by Will Wheaton?  Did you spend your afternoon reading articles you’d ‘found’ as part of your research into the latest trends emerging from Silicon Valley, or did you click on the first three results returned by Google after you searched for “cool tech?”  If you’ve answered with the latter to any of these questions then chances are you’re under the influence…

Regardless of when you are reading this, it is almost certain you’ve encountered artificial intelligence (AI) at least once today. From checking emails and reviewing news and social media feeds, to interacting with our banks and shopping online, AI, to a greater or lesser extent, is involved in almost every interaction we have with a computer, tablet or connected device. Indeed, it’s thanks in part to AI that many of the tasks we complete on a daily basis are even possible – imagine trying to find one website amongst the 1.94 billion in existence in 2019 without Google.  But therein lies the rub. 

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Despite the influence which AI exerts in our decision-making process, both in relation to the mundane – where to eat and which social feeds to follow – and the impactful – how our opinions on politics and international relations are shaped and reshaped over time – many of us have only a limited understanding of how these technologies actually operate.  As a result, many of their users’ lives may be meaningfully influenced by AI, often without the user even realising this to be the case.  As psychologist Don Norman described in his Conceptual Model, the best way to assert control over technology – and to avoid the potentially negative outcomes which can result from opacity and misunderstanding – is to ensure we possess enough knowledge to use it effectively.

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