10 must-watch TED Talks on artificial intelligence

Zeynep Tufekci is an assistant professor at Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society and specialises in the impact of big data and algorithms and how technology influences societal movements.

In this talk, Tufekci explores the pitfalls of artificial intelligence and the potential future failures of a society that is not adequately prepared. Tufekci believes human morals will become significantly important in the age of artificial intelligence and emotionally intelligent machines.

Watch: Machine intelligence makes human morals more important

Kevin Kelly is probably best known for being the founding executive editor of Wired magazine and former editor and publisher of the Whole Earth Review. Kelly has written extensively about science, philosophy, intelligent machines and the human brain.

In this TED talk, Kelly addresses the three AI trends that need to be understood to formulate the foundation of its development. Kelly highlights that our desire to produce smart products will impact most if not all aspect of our lives.

Watch: How AI can bring on a second Industrial Revolution

Nick Bostrom is a professor at the University of Oxford, director at the Future of Humanity Institute and director at the Strategic Artificial Intelligence Research Centre. Bostrom specialises in the ethics surrounding AI, the future of humanity and the potential risks and the philosophy of the mind (to name a few).

This talk explores the well-debated question 'what happens when computers get smarter than we are'. There are potential end scenarios, from intelligent machines preserving humanity to ending humanity or creating a new set of values for life with thinking machines.

Watch: What happens when our computers get smarter than we are?

Rana el Kaliouby is chief science officer and co-founder of Affectiva, an emotion measurement technology that enables computers to recognise human emotions based on facial expressions.

In this popular talk, Kaliouby provides a demonstration of this facial recognition technology. Kaliouby explains how this 'emotion engine' can change how humans and machines interact and how machines could match the emotional response similar to that of humans.

Watch: This app knows how you feel — from the look on your face

Author of five New York Times bestsellers, Sam Harris focuses on a variety of interesting topics from neuroscience and morality to human rationality and the ways we must change as the world changes around us.

In this talk, Harris addresses the fear associated with superintelligent machines and why this is justified. The problems that come with AI need to be tackled before we create high-level AI to avoid 'horror' scenarios. Harris believes it's difficult to see time when - if not controlled- AI will not destroy us.

Watch: Can we build AI without losing control over it?

Robotics engineer Hod Lipson is director of Columbia University's Creative Machines Lab. One of Lipson's focuses is evolutionary robotics, which is the research within the fields of artificial life and fully-autonomous robots.

In this short and relatively old (2007) TED Talk, Lipson demonstrates some of his robots that he has programmed them to learn, understand themselves and understand their own limitations.

Watch: Building "self-aware" robots.

Shyam Sankar is director of Forward Deployed Engineering at Palantir Technologies, specialising in big data analysis. Sankar focuses on human-computer symbiosis and explains why we should rely on intelligence augmentation (IA) to tackle our hardest problems rather than artificial intelligence.

In this talk, Sankar explains why solving world problems such as terrorism is not about understanding the right algorithm, but instead should centre on the connection between computing and human individuality.

Watch: The rise of human-computer cooperation.

Data scientist Jeremy Howard is the CEO of Enlitic, an advanced machine learning organisation specialising in optimal treatment decision based on patient data. 

In this talk, Howard explores the implications of deep learning and all that encompasses machine learning. Going back to the first self-learning computer, Howard explains how Google, IBM, Baidu and other tech giants have built foundations in machine learning, from Watson winning Jeopardy! and Google's search engine. Howard also explains his company's deep learning process, aimed at the medical industry.

Watch: The wonderful and terrifying implications of computers that can learn.

Oscar Schwartz is a writer and poet specialising in the impact that digital technology has on culture and human interaction. Schwartz created a website Bot or not providing a Turing test asking users to decide whether a __computer or human has written a piece of poetry. 

This talk offers examples of poetry written by both computers and humans, encouraging viewers to guess which one was written by a computer, and the results will probably surprise you. Schwartz questions the human response to this, is it still poetry if it is written by a computer? Has the computer truly expressed itself? And what does it mean to be human or a computer?

Watch: Can a computer write poetry?

Guy Hoffman is assistant professor and the Mills Family Faculty Fellow in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University. Hoffman focuses on the interactions of robots and asks whether they can mirror the communication we see between two or more humans.

In this popular talk, Hoffman explores the 'humanisation' of robots in films and looks at how this can be done. Hoffman looks at robots that break the typical 'observe and respond' relationship they have with humans, for example in human vs robot chess games.

Watch: Robots with "soul".