Blockchain is a technology that is truly ingenious and has potentially endless applications.
As always: the hype blows over, useful applications remain. In 2018, examples of such applications will come to the attention of the general public. We will see products built on blockchain, where the currency of the product is not necessarily intended as a direct means of payment or as an object of speculation, but as part of an ecosystem that enables all kinds of decentralized agreements and transactions. Some of these ideas will be brilliant, others downright ridiculous. But whatever happens to Bitcoin: the enormous flight of crypto applications will continue at a rapid pace in 2018.
– Frans Mettes, Art Director (and crypto watcher)
Prediction 2. Human Ethics vs. Artificial Intelligence
Imagine: a self-driving car with passengers unexpectedly hits a crossing mother with a stroller just a few meters from the bumper. Braking prematurely is too late, the software in the self-driving car has to choose. Either a collision with the mother and her child or swerving with real danger to the lives of the occupants as a result. Which choice?
Admittedly, it is a dramatic example and actually nothing new. The big difference is this: it is not the intuitive human being who makes the decision here, but a pre-written instruction. An algorithm. Written by a programmer, on behalf of, well, who actually?
Algorithms increasingly influence our daily lives, our worldview, our political policies, our education, our health care.
Who is the guardian of ethics?
Most algorithms are developed by uk whatsapp number private companies. And then two observations follow immediately: the companies have money (and therefore access to talent) and the companies have interests (their own). For a society it is important to ensure that the company interest does not conflict with the general interest. Who is the guardian of ethics?
In 2017, there was already a strong awareness of Facebook's algorithms. We have experienced Volkswagen's dieselgate. It is only the beginning. Society is aware that we have no insight or control over decisions that others make and that affect us all. And so there is a great need for a controlling supervisor.
Artificial intelligence
Compare it to the AFM, the DNB. We are looking for a testing service of ethical values. That formulates a set of workable and above all human ethical rules. Where software makes decisions for us, within the domain of AI. A serious authority. With enforcement powers.