Q and A-holes
I was worried about the AI machines taking over the world until I considered the alternative: Humans remaining in charge. We’ve already entered an era in which a lot of people, for better or worse, are making chatbots their first stop for getting information about major events. And it’s unclear that these chatbots can overcome the biases and beliefs of their owners. Do you trust a guy who heils in public to host an AI tool that tells the truth about the Holocaust? A couple weeks ago, Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropy cut ties with the pro-immigration advocacy group that he founded, because that bedrock of America (and of Zuck’s past beliefs) fell out of favor with the current administration. What happens when the same administration doesn’t like the way the Meta chatbot answers a question about one of its policies? Trust a guy who abandons his own values to value yours? Why does this matter? Because, as Gary Marcus and Damon Beres explain in The Atlantic (Gift Article), the information war will be fought through chatbots. “Journalists and other sources may be cited by the bots, but the people who control these AI products, such as Musk, now have a greater ability to manipulate how events are reported. This is a deeply troubling development—one that threatens to leave the public less informed, with fewer checks on those in power.” So yes, I worry about the technology. But I worry more about the owners of that technology, who have already shown a willingness to sacrifice the public good for personal gain.
+ Fabricated and misrepresented images shared widely online after US removal of Maduro. (Some of this isn’t AI. It’s just good old fashioned humans spreading good old fashioned garbage. In one case, a viral video purports to show Venezuelans celebrating the capture of Maduro. In actuality, it was students participating in UCLA’s quarterly tradition: The Undie Run. A fan of both fake news and young people in their undergarments, President Trump couldn’t resist being among those who shared the video, adding the caption, Venezuela celebrates, Democrats cry.)
