A Final Commission

No idols or sorcery

  • illusion of intelligence: AI abilities can seem magical, but you know better now
  • temptation of sorcery: if we know how to use it, seems like that gives us secret powers

Avoid both of these; love God and neighbor.

Walk in light

  • be transparent about your work (goals, data, design decisions, etc.)
  • be accountable for what you make (and hold other systems accountable)

(Don’t follow the example of OpenAI!)

Do justice.

Be humble.

A Commission

You’ve spent a semester learning what’s actually inside these systems.

That makes you the person in the room who can:

  • Discern the difference between a demo and a reliable system
  • Watch out for when a metric might be being gamed
  • Notice how the system will affect someone who nobody is thinking about
  • Put strong limits on AI authority (and say exactly why)

Protect people who can’t audit the AI themselves. Be honest about what you don’t know. Build things that serve.

“My word that goes out from my mouth … will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” — Isaiah 55:11

Final Logistics

  • Project reports: drafts due end of day today; revisions accepted until end of finals
  • Project reflections due tomorrow
  • Optional but encouraged: debrief meeting with me sometime before grades due

Suggestions:

  • Make a portfolio that includes your project report
  • Follow good AI / ML newsletters or social media channels