I just finished listening to the book “I, Robot”. A collection of science fiction stories written in 1940 and 1950. But is it science fiction?

If I map what’s in the book with developments and (ethical) discussions in machine learning, he already describes what is actual nowadays. Who’s in control? What is the psychology behind an algorithm? Why can’t I get that result a second time?

It also describes the scenario where robots, or algorithms, always have to follow some rules set by humans. Including an example that humans decide it’s necessary to loosen the restrictions a little bit for a specific use case. Do you recognize this? I know this happens a lot in data science. Usually it is hard to spot or reproduce. And most of the time it all goes well until it goes wrong. Especially when black swans appear.

And then the closure of the book. Robots taking over the world. Sounds like the AI apocalypse. The twist in the book that humanity is not aware that robots have taken control made me smile. The robots did it subtly. Nowadays, we have many “black box” algorithms. With marketing we know that we are being influenced. But how far does it already go? Are we still in charge? Or are machines already the boss?