16 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 299 — 2019 having to be programmed. The scale of this machine intelligence would far outpace the capacity of any biological human, just as a simple calculator can outperform any human at solving math problems. Technology innovation is creating immense opportunities to improve the lives of people throughout the world. As is especially evident through advances in artificial intelligence, this innovation is also producing startling quandaries that at one time seemed far-fetched and fictitious, but that now raise ethical challenges for the present and future of humanity. Why AI Ethics? As daunting as the technical questions are for fulfilling the vision of an AI-driven world, it appears that the ethics of governing innovation will be even harder. How should we manage technology—how do we shape outcomes, processes, and consequences—to ensure that human society is not only sustainable but also thriving? More bluntly, how will we create a future we actually want to inhabit, rather than one defined by destitution, technological cataclysm, and inhumane conditions? The answers to such questions are not simply technical rather, they are profoundly humanistic and comprehensive. The judgments and decisions that will shape our human future are ultimately ethical in nature. They mandate consideration of social benefits and costs, of material advantage and disadvantage, and of security, wealth, and well- being. In an astute article about the future of a digital society, Palmer Group CEO Shelly Palmer voiced a similar concern, explaining that the choice we face is not merely about opting in or opting out of “privacy,” but “about our economic sovereignty and our national security.”3 There is abundant concern that resonates with such cautionary voices. Many readers will recall that in 2016, several entrepreneurs and scientists from Elon Musk to Stephen Hawking signed an open letter urging governments to ban weaponized forms of AI until experts