The Golem and the Game of Automation

Abstract

This paper discusses contemporary issues in machine learning in the context of Norbert Wiener's work. Wiener uses the figure of the Golem across his writings to represent the dangers inherent in machine learning, and he depicts the relationship between creator and machine as a form of learning game. This paper demonstrates how recent advances in techniques such as cooperative inverse reinforcement learning deal explicitly with problems laid out in Wiener's earlier writing, including the importance of games as learning environments for the development of AI agents.