Behavioral AI Safety & Ethics

What risks emerge out of the interaction between humans and intelligent machines, and how can they be mitigated?

Today, we increasingly interact with machines powered by artificial intelligence. AI is implemented even in the toys kids play with. AI powers home assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, which increasingly manages the lives of its over 100 million users. AI also engages in a growing range of tasks on behalf of humans, ranging from setting prices in online markets to interrogating suspects.  

Key questions that the research area Behavioral AI Safety & Ethics tackles are: Could machines be bad apples and corrupt human behavior? How should we design AI systems to avoid ethical and safety risks? And how do people around the world perceive these risks? 

Sample Projects

Delegation to AI

Does delegating decisions to AI agents affect dishonest behavior and the execution of unethical actions and how can that risk be mitigated? [more]

Fear of AI Across Cultures

How are people from different countries afraid of AI taking high-stakes human roles?
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Consumer Psychology & AI

How can we calibrate human trust in AI, to avoid over-trusting or under-trusting it? [more]

Moral Machine

How do moral dilemmas in autonomous vehicle design shape public trust in driverless cars and perceptions of human oversight over AI decision-making? [more]

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