Jeffrey Carroll presented a guest lecture, “‘Go Fast and Break Things’: The Ethics of AI Automation” as part of the Arkansas State University lecture-concert series.

The focus of the speech and its namesake comes from a quote in 2012 by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg: “Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. However, as most companies grow, they slow down too much because they’re more afraid of making mistakes than they are of losing opportunities by moving too slowly. The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.”

Carroll, an assistant professor at West Virginia University (WVU), analyzed this philosophy, presented a series of ethical objections to it and refuted what he said were the weaker objections.

He began with a framework describing what happens as a result of innovation. He said innovation increases efficiency, which reduces labor, leading to low employment and eventually a loss of jobs. He said the natural conclusion of this reasoning is that innovation should be stopped to prevent the loss of jobs.

However, he said he believes innovation should continue because the job loss is not as bad as it seems and that the idea of “creative destruction” supports his reasoning.

“It’s (creative destruction) the process by which new innovations continually emerge and render existing technologies obsolete,” Carroll said. “New firms continually arrive to compete with existing firms and new jobs and activities arise and replace existing job activities.”

He said although half of “creative destruction” is the loss of jobs due to technology becoming outdated, the other half is the creation of new jobs as a result of innovation.

“There is this innovative, creative aspect where something new is emerging, so something is disappearing and something’s emerging as a result of this innovative process,” Carroll said.

Carroll gave examples of creative destruction such as the invention of tractors, which removed the need for physical farm laborers but created new jobs in the agriculture industry. 

Next, the WVU assistant professor presented several objections against creative destruction and innovation. These comprised the corporatism, stability, profit motive, displacement and existential objections. 

Carroll said all but the displacement objection could be reasonably dismissed. He said displacement is a valid concern because not everyone who loses their job due to advancing technology can adapt as their industry evolves and find a new career. 

“If you’re smarter and more educated, you’re more likely to benefit from technological change, and the converse, the less educated and intelligent you are, the more technological change will probably hurt you in the long run,” Carroll said.

The assistant professor said technological change often either substitutes labor or complements it. He said while complementing enhances jobs and makes them easier, substitution leads to job loss. 

Carroll said several options exist for dealing with those substituted by technology such as subsidies, education or training.

At the end of the presentation, Carroll said while moving fast and breaking things does cause destruction, typically in the form of job loss and displacement, companies should not put the brakes on progress. 

After his lecture, Carroll took questions from the audience. 

Eric Cave, a professor of philosophy at A-State, said the student engagement during the question portion impressed him.

“I’ve never seen that many questions asked at one of these functions,” Cave said. “It was sophisticated enough so that everybody had something to ask.”

Hidenra Singh Masand, a computer science major from India who transferred from Arizona State University, asked Carroll several questions after the lecture.

He said his major and artificial intelligence are closely related, so he wanted to understand how AI might impact the computer science industry.

“Software jobs are being taken over by AI, so if I don’t know what’s going on with AI work, I’m going to be left behind,” Masand said.

Odette Henry, a graduate mass communication student from Toronto, Canada, said she enjoyed hearing Carroll’s perspective on AI.

“I can see his perspective on how we are to critically assess AI and not arbitrarily think it’s going to be the monster that most people are predicting it’s going to be,” Henry said.

Cave said he is appreciative of A-State for hosting philosophy lectures in the lecture-concert series. 

The next event in the concert-lecture series, “Woodwind Extravaganza” will feature Brittney Trotter and Bret Pimentel. The event will be held Saturday, March 1 at 5 p.m. at the Fowler Center in Riceland Hall.

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