Stopping racist AI is as difficult as stopping racist people

In early 2016, Microsoft launched Tay, an AI chatbot that was supposed to mimic the behavior of a curious teenage girl and engage in smart discussions with Twitter users. The project would display the promises and potential of AI-powered conversational interfaces. However, in less than 24 hours, the innocent Tay became a racist, misogynist and a holocaust denying AI, debunking—once again—the myth of algorithmic neutrality. For years, we’ve thought that artificial intellig