Abstract
A new era of artificial intelligence has begun, wherein artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a dominant societal paradigm that increasingly influences nearly every sphere of human life (Samuel et al., 2024a). While AI holds great promise, it also gives rise to hitherto unidentified problems and uncertainties - the emerging complexities of socio-technical challenges associated with human-like AI are increasing and are not expected to be resolved in the foreseeable future (Brynjolfsson, 2022). Extant research posits that the broad and explosive development of AI technologies, while advantageous, is also fraught with risks and the emergence of sophisticated new threats across domains such as medicine, education, law and governance, and military, among others (Hashimoto et al., 2018; Jensen et al., 2020; Köbis et al., 2022; Hendrycks et al., 2023; Park et al., 2023). While technological revolutions are often marked by chaos, confusion, and fear, these challenges have been amplified by a combination of the unprecedented potential for rapid transformation of human society and the fragmented, and often AI-phobic public information about AI (Samuel et al., 2024b). To counter the potentially destabilizing effects of AI on society, it is necessary to establish research, policy, education, and practice initiatives that avoid harms and minimize the risks associated with the deployment of AI technologies. Additionally, we must ensure that we preserve the core values that guide individuals, cultures, and societies while supporting rapid advancements in AI. As the famous philosopher Alfred N. Whitehead eloquently stated, “The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order,” reminding us of the delicate balance needed during times of rapid innovation.