{"id":359,"date":"2024-12-11T16:02:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T16:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/msm24group5\/?p=359"},"modified":"2024-12-15T16:12:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T16:12:13","slug":"the-muddy-waters-of-ai-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/msm24group5\/2024\/12\/11\/the-muddy-waters-of-ai-regulation\/","title":{"rendered":"The muddy waters of AI regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In my<\/span> previous post<\/span><\/a> I touched on some of the problems AI and social media algorithms cause ranging from rather small problems to outright existential ones. I argued that our free-for-all capitalism does not provide safeguards from AI <\/span>derailments,<\/span><\/i> and I argued for regulatory frameworks for our common future to coexist with artificial intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What are the problems we need to address?<\/strong><\/h6>\n

I believe these regulations are needed even for our most minute issues <\/span>(minute only in comparison to global threats)<\/span><\/i>, such as<\/span> intellectual property<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> data privacy<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> identity theft<\/span><\/a>, and cross-country workers\u2019 rights (Berg, 2022), but looking at existential threats, such as<\/span> AI in warfare<\/span><\/a> (think of<\/span> killer robots<\/span><\/i><\/a> in the Russo-Ukrainian War) or a superintelligence that is<\/span> misaligned with human values<\/span><\/a> \u2013 what if an AI tasked with solving the climate change concludes that <\/span>humans<\/span><\/i> are the problem that need to be <\/span>eliminated<\/span><\/i>? \u2013 the urgent need for intervention arises with utmost importance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between these two ends of personal, and existential levels we find further impacts of AI that might lead to societal disruptions. As Phaendra Boinodiris<\/span> explains in her video<\/span><\/a>, many people are unaware of how AI already impacts their lives \u2013 her examples include loaning decisions, and university admissions. She goes further and explains that there is an assumption from many that AI is infallible and has zero unbiased assumptions. Exactly therein lies the issues of bias and discrimination, that AI trained on biased data might reinforce our existing biases in hiring, policing, and lending. One other example that could shake societal structures is<\/span> misinformation campaigns fuelled by AI tools<\/span><\/a> generating content \u2013 such as deepfakes, which can destabilize democracies and undermine trust \u2013 once recent examples are<\/span> AI-generated robocalls<\/span><\/a> mimicking the voice of President Biden.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shifting the focus from societal issues, advancements in AI have negative impacts on the environment too. My colleague Eva pointed out in a<\/span>\u00a0previous post on this blog<\/span><\/a>, that the energy consumption and the water needs of data centres used to power AI tools further complicate the issues around water scarcity especially when large international corporations establish these centres in already drought-prone areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

In conclusion, we can say the problems are many, affect our lives on various levels from personal to existential, and affect various walks of life \u2013 even regulatory jurisdictions. This means that there might not be a single regulatory solution that might untangle the issues we face both now, and most importantly in the future as well. I will argue later in this article that in tackling these issues we need to create hybrid solutions that can effectively deal with them.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fostering responsible AI development?<\/strong><\/h6>\n

If we accept as an axiom that artificial intelligence is part of our future (and let us be honest \u2013 it is: our existing capitalist structures see the<\/span> possible profit margins in AI development<\/span><\/a>), we might need to settle for the next best thing: a mix of robust regulation, international cooperation, and public participation in the policy discourse \u2013 with the concept of ethical AI development in the centre of it all.<\/span><\/p>\n

IBM defines AI ethics<\/span><\/a> as <\/span>\u2018a multidisciplinary field that studies how to optimize AI’s beneficial impact while reducing risks and adverse outcomes\u2019 <\/span><\/i>(2024). They then list various issues that align with the list of problems listed above and more. They developed<\/span> five pillars<\/span><\/a> for the responsible adoptions of AI technologies which I find a good starting point for fostering conversations:<\/span><\/p>\n