Artificial Intelligence is growing exponentially, and with that comes serious concerns about rogue A.I. and criminal/governmental misuse. Already it is being used to make fake videos of politicians and celebrities, perfectly mimicking their visuals and expressions, and also perfectly matching their voices. On top of this, many companies, including many large multinational corporations are integrating A.I. into their processes, largely for the more work intensive and mundane tasks such as data organization.
This is starting to raise concern among some, as the future of A.I. seems to become more worrying and unpredictable as we go forward.
With A.I. almost perfectly mimicking voices and videos, who is to say that in the future everything we see online won’t be A.I. or in some way altered? Hollywood actors may not be necessary at all in the future, as personalities could simply be invented by A.I. programs along with social media accounts and personal opinions and photos. It is highly likely, that at this rate, most of social media will be entirely fabricated and filled with people that don’t actually exist.
Already there are many people who don’t leave the confines of their hometown. People in third world countries, rural towns, or in large cities may potentially have a completely fabricated view of not only people elsewhere in the world or in their country, but could also have an entirely fabricated view of the world itself.
Couple this technology with the likes of virtual reality headsets, it is possible that in the near future there could be thousands or maybe even millions of people that simply live in an actual fantasy world, indistinguishable from the real world. They may not even know the real world exists.
And to think that companies won’t take advantage of this would be a misnomer. It would be in their best interests materially to do so, as many I’m sure already are.
With this in mind, should A.I. be regulated?
The issue with regulating A.I. is similar to the issue with regulating guns and gun ownership. They are both potentially either deadly weapons or useful tools.
I can’t see how anyone can deny that A.I. is not a game changer when it comes to positive development in general. I myself tend to use A.I. as much as I can. However, I don’t use A.I. for some things that I think need to be genuine or real, such as the text in my articles. However, this is voluntary self-regulation, nothing is stopping me from simply using A.I. for every productive enterprise that I take part in.
But if someone like me was banned from making A.I. content entirely, that would create a serious issue. All of a sudden, only those who are willing to break the law can create A.I. content, which gives them a competitive edge that people like me would not be able to compete with without also breaking the law.
The same issue is present in gun regulation. In the United States, the democrat run cities which have gun restrictions in place are also the cities with the highest crime rates and gun violence. This is because when restrictions are placed on gun ownership, the only people who abide by these restrictions are law abiding citizens. Meaning that only criminals have guns, giving them a huge advantage. And in this case, much like with A.I. that advantage will most likely be detrimental to law abiding people.
If A.I. is regulated then it will be done by those in government, and lobbying will be dominated by the largest of multinational corporations. I don’t need to explain why multi nationals and government officials are not the most trustworthy people to be regulating this. This also means that the regulations will benefit them at the detriment of law-abiding citizens and their competitors.
If only government and giant global companies had access to A.I. then reality will become highly skewed and manipulated. Many of these companies, most likely also the government itself, and also criminals and criminal organizations in general, will have full access to the most advanced A.I. and no one will be able to compete.
👉 And so, although A.I. itself can be a scary prospect, if it becomes regulated then it simply means that only those who break the regulations or have exceptions to the regulations such as governmental organizations, are the ones who will be using it to its fullest extent, not the people. This is a horrible prospect and begins to cement the dystopian future theory as a reality.
But there is a possibility, so long as freedom of use is assured, that a future with A.I. could be mostly beneficial.
Our world has changed forever and there is no going back. We have to live with the fact that A.I. is here to stay. There is no point in being fearful, being cautious and wise would be the best approach.
Not everything we see going forward will be real, but with pattern recognition and certain programs and processes, we can learn to live with the negatives whilst reaping the rewards of the positives. Many millions of jobs will be lost to A.I. yet those jobs will produce more efficient products.
Adapting to a changing world is our only option, and if we put effort into adapting well to our new high-tech world, we can turn it into a beautiful place.
Alex James.