I’m going to be attending a Deep Learning Conference in a few weeks, and the preparation for it made me recall the last AI developers conference I attended—one at which the conference organizer, a talented programmer, initiated the 3-day event proudly stating the conference mantra:

“Talk is cheap. Show me the code.”

He received a solid round of applause and laughter.

That’s fine, but when I consider the ethical challenges with artificial intelligence, this comment/response dyad highlights for me the ultimate disconnect between software and “peopleware”.

Talk may indeed be “cheap”.

But— as a human interaction tool—it’s invaluable.

Especially when talking about artificial intelligence and healthcare.