Introduction to AI Safety, Ethics, and Society cover

Introduction to AI Safety, Ethics, and Society

by Dan Hendrycks

As AI technology is rapidly progressing in capability and being adopted more widely across society, it is more important than ever to understand the potential risks AI may pose and how AI can be developed and deployed safely. Introduction to AI Safety, Ethics, and Society offers a comprehensive and accessible guide to this topic. This book explores a range of ways in which societies could fail to harness AI safely in coming years, such as malicious use, accidental failures, erosion of safety standards due to competition between AI developers or nation-states, and potential loss of control over autonomous systems. Grounded in the latest technical advances, this book offers a timely perspective on the challenges involved in making current AI systems safer. Ensuring that AI systems are safe is not just a problem for researchers in machine learning – it is a societal challenge that cuts across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Integrating insights from safety engineering, economics, and other relevant fields, this book provides readers with fundamental concepts to understand and manage AI risks more effectively. This is an invaluable resource for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses relating to AI Safety & Alignment, AI Ethics, AI Policy, and the Societal Impacts of AI, as well as anyone trying to better navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of AI safety.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?