Machine behaviour

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 568; no. 7753; pp. 477 - 486
• Main Authors: Rahwan, Iyad, Cebrian, Manuel, Obradovich, Nick, Bongard, Josh, Bonnefon, Jean-François, Breazeal, Cynthia, Crandall, Jacob W, Christakis, Nicholas A, Couzin, Iain D, Jackson, Matthew O, Jennings, Nicholas R, Kamar, Ece, Kloumann, Isabel M, Larochelle, Hugo, Lazer, David, McElreath, Richard, Mislove, Alan, Parkes, David C, Pentland, Alex 'Sandy', Roberts, Margaret E, Shariff, Azim, Tenenbaum, Joshua B, Wellman, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01.04.2019
• Subjects: Accountability; Algorithms; Analysis; Artificial intelligence; Artificial Intelligence - legislation & jurisprudence; Artificial Intelligence - trends; Behavior; Behavioral sciences; Computer science; Control; Cooperation; Ecology; Economic aspects; Economics and Finance; Forecasts and trends; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Institutional constraints; Intelligent machines; Interdisciplinary aspects; Motivation; Political aspects; Researchers; Robotics; Scientific research; Scientists; Social aspects; Social networks; Society; Stability; Studies; Transparency
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1138-y

Machines powered by artificial intelligence increasingly mediate our social, cultural, economic and political interactions. Understanding the behaviour of artificial intelligence systems is essential to our ability to control their actions, reap their benefits and minimize their harms. Here we argue that this necessitates a broad scientific research agenda to study machine behaviour that incorporates and expands upon the discipline of computer science and includes insights from across the sciences. We first outline a set of questions that are fundamental to this emerging field and then explore the technical, legal and institutional constraints on the study of machine behaviour.