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Thursday, December 7, 2023
VOLUME LXXXVI, ISSUE 11
UNIVERSITY
Daniel Dennett calls for ethics in AI development
Rebecca Barrie
Contributing Writer
Originally published Dec. 5. “It’s emerging, it’s everywhere. It’s going to be even more everywhere … and it’s scary and inspiring at the same time,” Jad Oubala, president and founder of the Tufts Artificial Intelligence Society, said when describing AI. For this reason, TAIS brought together computer science researchers and renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett to discuss the ethical concerns of developing AI technology at a panel discussion titled “Ghost in the Neural Net: Traversing the Ethics of AI” on Nov. 15. Matthias Scheutz and Tina Eliassi-Rad, both computer science professors at Tufts and Northeastern University respectively, joined Dennett on stage in Distler Performance Hall. Oubala, a first-year student, moderated the discussion. Dennett, director of the Tufts Center for Cognitive Studies and professor emeritus of philosophy, is best known for his groundbreaking
COURTESY TUFTS AI SOCIETY
Tufts AI Society panel discussion is pictured on Nov. 15, 2023. work on consciousness. When asked by Oubala to define this term, Dennett made a point to exclude the topic from further discussion. “[AI] is not conscious now … so just leave aside the question of whether they’re ever going to be conscious or sentient,” Dennett said. “We have bigger problems
to worry about that are on our doorstep now.” Dennett then further expanded on an idea he explored in an article published earlier this year, “The Problem With Counterfeit People,” drawing a comparison between lifelike AI and counterfeit money.
LOCAL
Somerville removes gender requirement from marriage certificates
Anna Fattaey
Assistant News Editor
Estelle Anderson
Deputy News Editor
Originally published Dec. 4.
Originally published Nov. 29.
ALEXANDER THOMPSON / THE TUFTS DAILY
A Somerville Police Department patrol car is pictured on Jan. 31, 2020. The mayor’s office did not respond when contacted for comment by the Daily. Ballantyne’s decision has garnered mixed reactions from those involved in the search. “We did the work. We came together as a community with the understanding of what the
City of Somerville needs. … We were all in agreement on at least two of those candidates,” Clingan told the Daily. “I’m not happy about it.” Clingan has asked to be taken off of the committee as they move see POLICE, page 3
Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and City Clerk Kimberly Wells officially removed the gender identification requirement from Somerville marriage certificates on Oct. 19. Rather than having to select either “male” or “female” on their marriage certificates, Somerville couples can now choose to leave this field blank. “At its core, the purpose of the marriage license is to legally bind two individuals in love, regardless of their gender identity or expression,” Ballantyne wrote in an email to the Daily. “Somerville believes in celebrating love in all its forms, and this change reflects our unwavering dedication to creating a city where every resident is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
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LOCAL
Mayor Ballantyne rejects police chief candidate, search enters fourth year Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and Somerville’s Police Chief Search Committee announced on Nov. 9 that their search for the next chief of the Somerville Police Department will continue. Somerville has been in the process of selecting the new chief since December 2020, when former Chief David Fallon retired. According to Jesse Clingan, Somerville city councilman and member of the Police Chief Search Committee, the nationwide search for a police chief produced three finalists, all from the general area. Those finalists were announced in October and following live interviews, the committee selected one candidate for Mayor Ballantyne to approve, whom she then rejected.
“Maybe [Large Language Models] can do wonderful things that we can’t come close to doing,” Dennett said. “I just want us to be able to tell the difference, and that’s because LLMs are not people: They’re counterfeit people. … I want to suggest that counterfeit people are more dangerous, more potentially destruc-
tive, of human civilization than counterfeit money ever was.” Referring to the speed at which AI technology is being developed without ethical consideration, Dennett offered a pessimistic outlook on the future of the industry and its implications for humanity. “Unless we take very strong steps immediately … we will soon enter a very dark age,” he said. “It may be too late to stop this from happening.” Eliassi-Rad, Northeastern University’s inaugural Joseph E. Aoun professor, further emphasized racialized problems that can arise when ethical considerations are not taken during AI development. “The facial recognition systems will do better on professor Dennett than on me,” EliassiRad said. “They usually don’t do as well on women, and they don’t do well on darker-skinned women. … We have known for decades that those oximeters, which measure the amount of oxygen in your blood, do not work very well for darker-skinned
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Since marriage certificates are state documents, Somerville does not have the power to change the content of the forms themselves, which currently only list “male” or “female” as gender identifiers. However, the city can allow residents to not fill out certain portions of their certificates. “For folks who are non-binary … for folks who may be genderqueer or may have transitioned throughout their marriage or engagement … not forcing them to make one of these choices between what on a document is male or female is really important and allows everyone to show up as their fullest and most authentic selves,” Somerville City-Councilor-at-Large Willie Burnley Jr. said in an interview with the Daily. see MARRIAGE, page 3
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