AI Ethicist Jenny Williams on Tech's Risks

Andrew Urquhart speaks with Jenny Williams, an AI ethicist, author, and former member of Microsoft's AI ethics team, about whether artificial intelligence is a force for good or cause for concern. Jenny leans towards caution, noting AI is currently developed by a small number of powerful companies whose interests may not align with the greater good, citing issues like disproportionate energy consumption from data centres and questioning who we can trust for reliable information—big tech, governments, or AI itself.

Jenny shares her experience on Microsoft's now-dissolved "Ethics and Society" team, disbanded at a critical moment as generative AI expanded rapidly, reflecting industry-wide pressure to deploy quickly rather than cautiously. She also discusses her psychological thriller novel "House of Lies," about writers competing against an AI on a remote island, and expresses concern that AI-assisted "slop" content undermines genuine human creative expression.

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