Consumer Artificial Intelligence Mishaps and Mitigation Strategies

Although artificial intelligence (AI) promises to deliver ever more user-friendly consumer applications, recent mishaps involving fake information and biased treatment serve as vivid reminders of the pitfalls of AI. AI can harbor latent biases and flaws that can cause harm in diverse and unexpected ways. Before AI becomes interwoven into human society, it is important to understand how and when AI can fail. This article presents a timely survey of AI-induced mishaps that relate to consumer applications. The article also offers suggestions on mitigating strategies to manage the undesirable side effects of using AI for consumer applications. It, therefore, serves a dual purpose of creating awareness of current issues and encouraging other researchers in the consumer technology community to build better AI consumer applications.