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AI Systems Face Public Trust Crisis

Federation of American Scientists1 min brief

In brief

  • AI systems have been deployed in various settings, including cancer screening and environmental challenges.
  • They can misallocate resources, misrepresent groups, or fail to function reliably, causing harm to people and communities.
    • These harms have been seen in healthcare, finance, and law enforcement, with examples including biased algorithms and faulty facial recognition technologies.
  • For instance, a healthcare algorithm underestimated the needs of Black patients, while a state unemployment benefits system made incorrect fraud determinations 85% of the time.
  • The lack of trust in AI systems is evident, with half of US adults feeling more concerned than excited about their growing use.
  • The public will only trust AI systems if they are transparent, fair, and legitimate, with procedural mechanisms in place to ensure accountability, and this trust will be rebuilt in the coming years.

Read full story at Federation of American Scientists

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