Database Drift Detector; Artificial Intelligence: The Unforeseen Threats

Introduction
My STS research topic is on the unexpected risks of artificial intelligence
(AI) while my technical project is a system I built during my internship at
Salesforce. The two projects are not related. I chose the STS topic because I was
taking both a Machine Learning course and Computer Vision course. I had a few
choices for my project at Salesforce. I chose the one that I believed would be the
most efficient for my team. The synthesis of data and computer science has some
powerful applications and the STS paper discusses some of its threats including
ethical decisions needed to be made and actors using its influence for nefarious
purposes.
STS/Technical Projects
In the technical portion of my project I designed a program to discern the
differences between special SQL Queries called stored procedures (sprocs). These
sprocs are saved SQL Queries to be rerun multiple times. Machines have different
versions of each sproc, i.e. it is non-standardized. The program ensured that the
sprocs were identical to each other or confirmed the differences. The new process
will be used for multiple databases across multiple teams. Society’s perception of
AI is largely favorable, but there are understated risks that come with its
development. The research project examined current, future, and possible
legislation to mitigate the likelihood of unanticipated consequences. Technology
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companies such as Google and Facebook have programs much more powerful than
the government’s. High level executives may not be aware of the consequences of
the technology. Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba, one of the largest public
companies of the world, displayed indifference to Elon Musk’s warnings of the
ramifications of AI’s growth. Legislation concerning AI is very miniscule but there
are organizations such as the Auditing and Assurance of Algorithms with the goal
to professionalize and industrialize AI, ML and associated algorithms.
Conclusion
Technology has been rapidly accelerating recently and will continue to be
used to efficiently streamline tasks, but following precautions will be imperative in
preventing unexpected consequences. I gained a lot of insight completing my
technical project last summer. I had a mentor, but I also had multiple one-on-ones
with different members of the team, either for help or seeing what they were
working on. I also had meetings with external members to solve problems such as
getting proper authentication or learning about particular features and practices
exclusive to Salesforce. Overall, the project was challenging yet doable and I now
have a better picture of the work I may be doing after graduation.

School of Engineering and Applied Science
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Technical Advisor: Daniel Grahm
STS Advisor: Richard Jacques
Technical Team Members: Dev Kumar