India, June 16 -- One year after Ahmedabad, India, must rethink who owns the truth when technology fails

In 1964, the mathematician Norbert Wiener published a remarkable book titled God & Golem, Inc. Wiener, widely regarded as the father of cybernetics, spent much of his career thinking about a question that has only become more urgent with time: What happens when human beings create increasingly intelligent systems but gradually lose the ability to understand, supervise, or challenge them?

To explain the danger, Wiener often returned to the old tale of the Sorcerer's Apprentice. A young apprentice discovers a magical broom capable of carrying water. Delighted by the prospect of avoiding hard work, he sets the broom in motion. The probl...