Much virtual ink gets spilled each week enumerating the many horrors that could be ours in world filled with artificial intelligence, but top researchers in the field are already thinking ahead and making plans to ensure none of that happens.

In particular, the importance of making A.I.  “human-aware” has come to be viewed as a top imperative for the field, earning it special status as an official theme of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence taking place this week in New York.

“It’s crucial that we design smart systems to work well with people,” said Harvard professor Barbara Grosz during a panel discussion at the conference on Tuesday. “It’s an imperative, not an option.”

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