A Good Science Read: 'The Fly Trap' and 'As If Human: AI and Artificial Intelligence'

Professor Charles Godfray and Professor Frances Ashcroft discuss The Fly Trap by Fredrik Sjöberg and As if Human: AI and Artificial Intelligence by Neil Shadbolt and Roger Hampson.

The Fly Trap describes the life of the author on a remote island in the Swedish archipelago where he hunts for hoverflies. Partly autobiographical, partly a discourse on insects, collecting, and the life of some extraordinary butterfly collectors, it is an enchanting read, quite lyrical in some places and very funny in others. As if Human: AI and Artificial Intelligence discusses the ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence. It addresses questions such as: what moral principles should we endow machines with?; who is accountable when things go wrong?; how do we use AI to empower rather than oppress people? How do we control privacy? It concludes with a set of guidelines (which the authors term ’proverbs’) on how a good citizen should approach the future.

Sir Charles Godfray is Professor of Population Biology at the University of Oxford and Director of the Oxford Martin School and of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food. He is also a Fellow of both the Royal Society and of Balliol College Oxford. His research interests include food security, biodiversity, and environmental science. He also has a passion for insects, particularly a group of tiny parasitic wasps.