Artificial intelligence is starting to master what it means to be creative. “This is both exciting and slightly terrifying,” says Marcus du Sautoy, Charles Simonyi professor for the public understanding of science at Oxford University.
A broadcaster and author of the best-selling popular mathematics book The Music of the Primes, and the recently published The Creativity Code, du Sautoy often explores the borderlands of art and science, once even appearing in his own play at the Science Museum.
As part of our Scientists Meets the Media series, du Sautory spoke to WIRED about the importance of storytelling in science, mathematics’ problem with gender diversity and the need for scientists to take ethical responsibility for their work.
Marcus du Sautoy on climate change
We have the data. We understand the science. So, it still amazes me that there are people who are not convinced that we are facing a climate crisis. Research published in Nature has revealed that the power of storytelling is as key to scientific communication as much as presenting the numbers. It is important therefore for scientists to tap into these skills if we want to engage everyone in the debate.
On the rise of antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health that can affect anyone in any country. It is striking that the subject is now being discussed in drama series like the BBC’s Years and Years. There is an important role for the media to play in highlighting the threat. It is misuse of antibiotics rather than an inevitable consequence of their success that is causing this crisis.
On ethics in science
Any important scientific breakthrough that impacts on society will inevitably raise ethical issues. What is encouraging is how many in the scientific community are taking a lead on engaging with these issues. For example, Deepmind’s research unit on ethics and society recognises that AI is not value free and those in the field need to take responsibility for the ethical and social impact of their work.
On the need for more diversity in science
My own subject of mathematics really needs to address the issue of diversity, especially when it comes to the number of women mathematicians at the higher levels of research. The London Mathematical Society is making great strides to tackle the issue and in 2016 was awarded the Royal Society’s inaugural Athena Prize created to reward the advancement of diversity in STEM.
On the future of healthcare
I was a member of the recent committee at the Royal Society looking at the impact of machine learning and AI on society in the next ten years. After having applied machine learning to playing games like Go and Jeopardy it’s striking that the main players in the field have turned to health as their next target.
I was struck that although machine learning can produce an algorithm that can beat a radiologist at spotting cancers in an image, it was the combination of machine and human that outperforms each one on its own. The future is about collaboration between AI and humanity.
On the best and worst of today’s science
Writing my book, The Creativity Code has revealed to me what a phase change we are going through in AI where code is starting to be genuinely creative. This is both exciting and slightly terrifying. Given that there have been so many dystopian stories told of our future with AI I tried to bring out the more positive benefits. But it illustrates that all progress in science can have both good and bad sides. It is our role as scientists to help aid an informed debate in society about the impact of these new discoveries.
Du Sautoy was one of the invited guests at Scientists Meet the Media at the Science Museum in London, organised with the Royal Society, sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Innovation and supported by the Association of British Science Writers and WIRED.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
