Woman and Machine

Some worry that with the “rise of robots,” humanity is entering into a type of dystopia. They murmur: we’re giving up control of deep, intangible human values, putting our trust in machines who have no soul, no imagination, and no vision. When I was younger, I, too, worried about this.

Today, I find myself at Darrow, managing the growth of an Artificial Intelligence. As CTO, charged with the very birth of this technology, I have learned to see differently and become passionate about the possibilities of non-human thinking. I’d like to explain why I’m so optimistic, from my perspective on the workshop floor.

Even in the smartest, best-funded project, it is well understood: every technical system has its fundamental limits. For eight years, I served as an officer in a military intelligence uni of the Israeli army. There, with virtually unlimited resources, access to the latest developments, gadgets, and systems, technology was never our limiting factor.

‍We were.

‍Teaching the Robot

‍It’s a cliche because it’s true. Machines are only as good as the people who build them. They rely on those who upgrade them, engage with them, use them. During high-takes operations in the army, it became apparent to me: it is always our human responsibility to set the purpose, to chart the course, and if necessary, to change it. Or in other words: machines are the ships, not the captains.

So what does Darrow’s compass point towards? We are a purpose-driven company, ignited by the desire to bring justice to a not-always-just legal system. This is our creed. Everything we do reflects this commitment. That is especially true of our technology. We are not naive. Of course, we cannot encrypt “justice” into a line of code. We know that. And still, it is essential to who we are.

So what can we do? With clarity about the hard limits of our technology, Darrow’s team is systematically threading “justice” all along the process around our code. Think of it as sewing a billowing safety net under a trapeze artist. We hope they will never fall, but if they do, both the artist above and the audience below will be safe.  Day in and day out, we find creative, authentic ways to plug the gap between our extraordinary wish and the machine’s extraordinary mind.

There’s no replacement for emotional intelligence

Let us accept: there is an impossible leap between (wo)man and machine. From this starting point, we can resolve to do what humans do best: to protect and care. We can hold the hands of this brilliant mechanical mind and guide it towards the light, away from the darkness. That is our role - to nurture AI with a profoundly human intelligence. Ultimately, it is up to us to be the beating heart inside the machine.

As CTO, it is a privilege to build an AI from scratch. As a co-founder, it’s amazing to watch a natural intelligence system (a team; a tribe; a squad; a company) take shape. Both projects, the technical and the human, are essentially organic. Both bump into obstacles, make mistakes, get stuck. Both have, with proper care, unlimited potential.

So, am I worried about the rise of robots? Honestly, I am not. On the contrary, we have so much to learn fro new technologies. Just like machines, humans benefit from course correction, tweaks, and upgrades. And just like machines, most of us can be fixed with a little patiences, grace, and guidance.