AI Policy
The AI Policy group focuses on increasing the trustworthiness of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems by enhancing their explainability and accountability. Current research topics include the role of AI in financial decision making, working with stakeholders on AI principles, and policy to increase access to new training data sets.
One example of the importance of this work is with autonomous vehicles. If we want users to trust the cars they are in and feel comfortable and willing to relinquish control, autonomous subsystems will have to be able to explain why they took certain actions and show that they can be accountable for errors. Explanations will have to be simple enough for users to understand, even when subject to cognitive distractions.
In response to this, our machine understanding work explores techniques for enabling autonomous systems to explain themselves by generating coherent symbolic representations of the relevant antecedents of significant events in the course of driving.
Read AI Policy News and Blog Posts

AI Tool Builders and Their Users: What Should We Expect From the Tools and Who Is Responsible When They Fail?
Written by: Daniel J. Weitzner February 19, 2019 In the midst of a heated global…
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AI Policy Congress – Part 4 Criminal Justice & Fairness
Written by Nicolas Rothbacher. The Application of AI in Criminal Justice How the application of…
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AI Policy Congress – Part 3 Healthcare
Written by Willie Boag Improving Healthcare with AI Technology During her research presentation on bringing…
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AI Policy Congress – Part 2 Democratizing AI through Transparency and Education
Written by Natalie Lao Demystifying Machine Learning for Regulators On Wednesday, January 16, Professor Hal…
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News: Policymakers Discuss How to Govern AI Technology
In a post for the New York Times, Steve Lohr discussed the MIT AI Policy…
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AI Policy Congress – Part 1 Governance Challenges
Written by Grace Abuhamad What Is the MIT AI Policy Congress? On January 15, 2019,…
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New Cross-Disciplinary Group Contemplates AI Ethics
MIT Students Address Ethical Issues in the Areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Autonomous Machines…
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Student Reflections (China 2017) – Matías Aránguiz V. (SJTU)
By: Matías Aránguiz V. PhD student in Law, Shanghai Jiaotong University During the summer, a team…
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Student Reflections (China 2017) – Leilani Gilpin (MIT)
Student Reflections: Leilani Gilpin (MIT) By: Leilani Gilpin I did’t know what to expect when…
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