Artificial intelligence, once the stuff of science fiction, has quietly become part of everyday life. It recommends the films we watch, filters the messages we receive, and increasingly helps to make decisions in areas as important as medicine, banking and law. As these systems grow more powerful, a difficult set of ethical questions has moved from academic seminars into urgent public debate. The central issue is not whether AI is clever, but whether we can ensure that it is used wisely and fairly.

One major concern is fairness. AI systems learn by analysing huge quantities of data, and if that data reflects existing prejudices in society, the system may absorb and even amplify them. There have been troubling cases in which automated systems appeared to treat people differently according to their background, not because anyone designed them to, but because they learned from biased information. Because these systems are complex and often difficult to understand, such unfairness can be hard to detect and harder still to correct.

A second concern is responsibility. When a human being makes a serious mistake, we know who is accountable. But when a decision is made by a machine – to reject a loan application, for instance, or to control a self-driving car – who is to blame if something goes wrong? The company that built the system? The person who used it? These questions do not yet have clear answers, and our laws are struggling to keep pace with the technology.

None of this means that we should fear or reject artificial intelligence. Used carefully, it has the potential to bring extraordinary benefits, from diagnosing diseases earlier to tackling climate change. The challenge is to enjoy these benefits while guarding against the risks. This will require thoughtful regulation, greater transparency about how these systems work, and a continuing public conversation about the kind of future we want. Technology itself is neither good nor bad; what matters is the wisdom with which we choose to use it.