Emerging Risks for Humans Interacting with Technologies

Oleg Evdokimov stood before a room filled with students interested in artificial intelligence (AI), computer science, and robotics and asked them to discuss the dangers of those technologies. 

The goal wasn't to get the students upset.

Evdokimov hoped to make them think about technology's impact on them — and society at large — and what might be done to mitigate that impact.

The exercise was part of a new class Evdokimov taught in Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) program called Emerging Risks for Humans Interacting with Technologies.

"The idea was to spend time not trying to convince each other of the point of view we believe in, but instead openly exploring the topic and listening to each other," said Evdokimov, group product design manager at legal-technology company Relativity. "I wanted them to try to suspend their assumptions on a subject and try to learn together from each other, and maybe even uncover a truth that is more collective in nature than individual."

Evdokimov asked students to consider current and upcoming threats posed by technology on different sociological levels: individuals, groups, organizations, nations, and the world. The concept was philosophical in nature, but made for fascinating conversation, Evdokimov said.

"Through the use of technology and the changing landscape of information, we're losing that ability to listen to each other," he said. "Everybody comes into a situation with a very targeted point of view and is eager to defend it with all their might. What that results in is conflict. Some of the work the students put together was very speculative in nature, but were also amazing to observe."

Evdokimov was excited to engage in conversations with the students because of the realities facing each social level. From his perspective:

• Individuals have become significantly more self-centered, more addicted to devices, and lonelier. 

• Groups, particularly Generation Z, have less freedom in the real world but more freedom in the digital world, which can cause spikes in anxiety, confusion, depression, and loneliness. 

• Organizations and corporations collect data about users and then provide recommendations of things those users might be interested in without considering the impact those recommendations may have. 

• Nations are becoming more authoritarian, governed by fear-based politics 

• Globally there are issues like climate change that are not necessarily due to technology but require technology in order to be navigated. 

"At a time where we have to be the most connected to tackle global issues, we actually are the most separated and the most self-centered," Evdokimov said. "We can't really get along because of information warfare and sensemaking is very much in the fog." 

The class was not just discussion. Students created social media accounts, liked the first image they saw, and then tracked what content was recommended to them to see how algorithms can manipulate content. They also researched how much information existed about themselves on the internet  and considered potential repercussions of that information. 

For the final project, students were given a variety of speculative scenarios, such as: 

• It's 2026 and a new virus was released. It killed 83 percent of all people above the age of 20. 

• Advanced ACI (artificial capable intelligence) is here but ice caps have melted and the average temperature of the Earth already rose by 3 degrees Celsius.  

Students then had to imagine what the world would look like if those situations were true. 

Evdokimov is still pessimistic about technology's future impact on people and society, but after teaching the class, he's excited and optimistic for his students' future. 

"They are studying to be technologists and to make an impact in the world of artificial intelligence," he said. "It's important for them to recognize the impact that they can make and potential harm that they can produce. It's essential for them to find their voice and find where they want to apply their time and skills."