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5 Savannah L. Rev. 1 (2018)

handle is hein.journals/savanlr5 and id is 1 raw text is: AVANNAH VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 RISE OF THE AUTOMATONS Wendell Wallach If you listen to the techno-optimists you would think that we are on a highway to heaven on Earth and the self-driving buses are speeding up at an exponential pace. On the other hand, if you just listen to the techno-pessimists you would think we are going straight to hell in a handbasket. But most of us do perceive technology as a source of promise and productivity, and yet there is considerable disquiet-disquiet about specific areas of research and disquiet about the overall trajectory of scientific discovery and technological innovation. You can see that disquiet in so many different areas: the worldwide prohibition on human cloning, the use of human growth hormones in sports, the E.U. has had its debate on genetically modified foods, and the U.S. is debating embryonic stem cell research. And there are the never-ending issues surrounding bio-security and info-security. Over the past few years we've had this dramatic uptake in concerns around what can happen with AI and the biotechnologies due to breakthroughs in machine learning algorithms and CRISPR Cas9, which dramatically eases the editing of the genome. I see the self-driving car as giving us a metaphor for what we're dealing with. Technology is moving into the driver seat as a primary determinant of humanity's Chair, Technology and Ethics Studies, Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. Author, A DANGEROUS MASTER: How To KEEP TECHNOLOGY FROM SLIPPING BEYOND OUR CONTROL (Basic Books, 2015). I was truly honored to give the plenary talk at Rise of the Automatons. The input of ethicists is not always valued by lawyers or law schools. The quality of the student and faculty presentations was excellent, and the southern hospitality of Savannah Law Review and its students could not have been surpassed. I was particularly touched when the students presented me with an oil portrait of my future cyborg self, painted by artist Fauvista Artista. Finally, let me express special appreciation to Marlan Eller who invited me, served as my primary host, and made sure that my trip to the Savannah Law School went very smoothly. 1