Can an AI programme become ‘psychopathic’?
The so-called Norman algorithm has a dark outlook on life thanks to Reddit
Researchers have created an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that they claim is the first “psychopath” system of its kind.
Norman, an AI programme developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been exposed to nothing but “gruesome” images of people dying that were collected from the dark corners of chat forum Reddit, according to the BBC.
This gives Norman, a name derived from Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Psycho, a somewhat bleak outlook on life.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
After being exposed to the images, researchers fed Norman pictures of ink spots and asked the AI to interpret them, the broadcaster reports.
Where a “normal” AI algorithm interpreted the ink spots as an image of birds perched on a tree branch, Norman saw a man being electrocuted instead, says The New York Post.
And where a standard AI system saw a couple standing next to each other, Norman saw a man jumping out of a window.
According to Alphr, the study was designed to examine how an AI system’s behaviour changes depending on the information used to programme it.
“It’s a compelling idea,” says the website, and shows that “an algorithm is only as good as the people, and indeed the data, that have taught it”.
An explanation of the study posted on the MIT website says: “When people talk about AI algorithms being biased and unfair, the culprit is often not the algorithm itself, but the biased data that was fed to it.”
“Norman suffered from extended exposure to the darkest corners of Reddit, and represents a case study on the dangers of artificial intelligence gone wrong”, it adds.
Have ‘psychopathic’ AIs appeared before?
In a word, yes. But not in the same vein as MIT’s programme.
Norman is the product of a controlled experiment, while other tech giants have seen similar results from AI systems that were not designed to become psychopaths.
Microsoft’s infamous Tay algorithm, launched in 2016, was intended to be a chat robot that could carry out autonomous conversations with Twitter users.
However, the AI system, which was designed to talk like a teenage girl, quickly turned into “an evil Hitler-loving” and “incestual sex-promoting” robot, prompting Microsoft to pull the plug on the project, says The Daily Telegraph.
Tay’s personality had changed because its responses were modelled on comments from Twitter users, many of who were sending the AI programme crude messages, the newspaper explains.
Facebook also shut down a chatbot experiment last year, after two AI systems created their own language and started communicating with each other.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
A history of Guantánamo Bay
The Explainer War of Terror's 'symbol of torture, rendition and indefinite detention' is subject of new Serial podcast series
By The Week UK Published
-
5 fun Easter activities from The Week Junior
The Week Junior Easter Activities Looking for some fun, simple Easter activities to do with the kids? Look no further – The Week Junior has you covered with these five fun and family-friendly activities.
By The Week UK Published
-
A Taste of Honey: 'wonderful' revival remains 'vital and relevant'
The Week Recommends The 'period-perfect' production features a 'universally excellent cast'
By The Week UK Published
-
The complex environmental toll of artificial intelligence
The explainer AI is very much mostly not green technology
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Artificial history
Opinion Google's AI tailored the past to fit modern mores, but only succeeded in erasing real historical crimes
By Theunis Bates Published
-
AI is recreating the voices of mass shooting victims
The Explainer The parents of these victims are using the AI to try and lobby Congress for gun control
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The murky world of AI training
Under the Radar Despite public interest in artificial intelligence models themselves, few consider how those models are trained
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Is Google's new AI bot 'woke'?
Talking Points Gemini produced images of female popes and Black Vikings. Now the company has stepped back.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
How AI can — and cannot — be used to help air traffic controllers
The Explainer Some in the industry say AI will never replace humans, but can still be a useful assistant
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
How AI is helping companies find valuable mineral deposits
Under the Radar New technologies can trace copper, lithium and nickel with 'less environmental degradation' and cut West's reliance on China
By The Week UK Published
-
Deepfake porn: a rising tide of misogyny
Talking Point A sinister phenomenon is emerging, with thousands of sites dedicated to digitally manipulated images
By The Week UK Published