'Tools don't have independent values — their values are human values': Quote of the day by Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li on building ethical AI

(Image credit: Getty Images/Big Event Media / Stringer) With AI advancing in capability and availability, many scientists and experts have begun highlighting the risks of deploying this emerging technology. There's an overriding desire to deploy AI ethically, or to instill models with human-based values, but it remains to be seen how to standardize such an approach or even whether to regulate the industry. That's where organizations like the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) come in.Computer says noWhen interviewed for the journal Issues in Science and Technology, the so-called 'Godmother of AI' Fei-Fei Li tried to explain how scientists and engineers can build AI that truly adheres to our values.Quote of the dayThis article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here.Her thesis around the responsible use of AI centers not on anthropomorphizing AI or considering it an intelligence capable of navigating the world and arriving at its own independent conclusions. Rather, it will reflect the values that we instill into it, whether that's through training or continued use of these tools.She added in this interview that it's also about recognizing that AI, as any tool, can both empower and harm humans.Values-driven AIThe organization that the American computer scientist leads, HAI, is an interdisciplinary research center that focuses on how best to guide AI development so that it benefits humanity and doesn't incur or lead to harm.In recent years, there's also been an increased emphasis on whether to regulate AI nationally (or even globally) and what shape that might take. Doing so, however, is far easier said than done, with progress occurring at different paces, in different guises, and inconsistently across oceans.There are, for example, different values that different nations or groups of people may wish to instill into the AI models they build that clash with the values of others.Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Keumars Afifi-Sabet is a freelance contributor for Tech Radar and the Technology Editor for Live Science. He has written for a variety of publications including ITPro, The Week Digital and ComputerActive. He has worked as a technology journalist for more than five years, having previously held the role of features editor with ITPro. In his previous role, he oversaw the commissioning and publishing of long form in areas including AI, cyber security, cloud computing and digital transformation.