“With no regulation and common boundaries, NO ONE can stop AI.”
Ivana
leaving control
to individual
effort
In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, the rise of AI is outpacing governmental policies. Most respondents note the absence of current regulations and common boundaries on AI usage. They feel the government is too slow in establishing governance, leaving AI's proliferation unchecked.
Regions like Singapore is implementing AI guidelines and strategy to govern the AI development as seen through Singapore National AI Strategy (NAIS 2.0). While other neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Philippines, rely on individual efforts for informal regulation rather than a systemic control.
Some respondents expressed that parents also bear the responsibility of managing AI awareness and usage. They need to filter and educate their children about the right values.
“It is parent's responsibility to filter and educate, teaching her how to be more discerning about the content and the authenticity.”
Len, SG, Male, 39
governance
is so vital
Due to the lack of formal regulation, governance starts taking its shape in the form of self-regulation, which in itself lacks structure.
For instance, the emergence of "witch hunt" phenomenon, where self-regulation takes the form of social bullying against AI users, creating a hostile environment and a new form of social policing.
An example from X shows a phenomenon where people are hunting down artists and accusing them of using AI without verification or fact-checking. This behaviour harms the artists even more.
Victim to witch hunts
Who is
benefitting
Companies and investors are optimistic about AI, viewing it as a transformative innovation capable of revolutionise business operations, decision-making, customer experiences, and product development. And of course, with that comes profit-generating opportunities.
This year, Saudi Arabia established a $100 billion fund to invest in AI and other technologies, aiming to become a dominant player in the field by leveraging its substantial resources in money and energy. As a result, the tech industry is keen to collaborate with the kingdom, recognising the potential for Saudi Arabia to export significant AI computing power.
What is certain is that AI's influence and adoption are increasing, bringing more capital to the world. Concerns arise because interactions with AI are often transactional: companies selling these interactions and consumers buying them. Without clear governance, AI could disproportionately benefit those in power, potentially leading to unintended consequences for individuals and the society as a whole.
One respondent draws inspiration from Isaac Asimov's fictional universal robot rules, to show the need for ethical guidelines in AI development, unless we want the AI to take control over human.
“AI might be used by people with power, for their efficiency, and eventually oppress common people.”
Alysa, ID, Single, 38
Who
decides
In a well-governed world, AI could bring equality, economic growth, and stronger relationships. While current AI access is broad, it won't soon be universally available. AI surely lacks human traits like common sense and ethical reasoning. Looking at the comparison to humans, the concern is not on the fear of AI replacing humans. But more towards on humans with advanced AI outpacing those without.
However, poor governance and unequal access to AI can leave some people behind, unable to keep up with the rapid advancements, which could even lead to social exclusion. There have been an example of some key figures call for a six-month halt on training powerful AI systems, warning of potential risks and claiming development is out of control.
Who is
responsible
Despite the astounding progress brought about by AI, many unintended consequences awaits the humankind too: from unemployment to privacy breach to discrimination to environmental issues, just to name a few.
In this capitalist economy, the majority depends on the value of their labor to survive. Big companies who utilise AI for efficiency cause a massive drop in the value of skills will cause widespread suffering in the society. At last, the working class are the ones who bear the brunt, argues Nathan J. Robinson in his article ‘The Problem with AI is the Problem with Capitalism’.
Wether It's In Bad or Good Hand
Racial Bias leading to INEQUALITY
Another issue we came across is the data collection for AI training, or sometimes, the lack of, leading to inequality. Generative AI is widely accessible but often distorts reality. A Bloomberg analysis of over 5,000 images revealed extreme racial and gender disparities. As these tools proliferate, their biases risk perpetuating harmful stereotypes and causing unfair treatment, hindering progress toward greater equality.
Another critical example is how black patients lose out in critical care due to racial bias found in a major health care algorithm, which leads to higher cost, lower quality of health care for them.
In 2019, researchers found that an algorithm used on more than 200 million people to predict which patients would likely need extra medical care heavily favoured white patients over black patients.
We really cannot afford to be complacent and must perform further and constant evaluations to always improve and fix issues.
Racial Bias leading to FALSE ARRESTS
In another study, examination of facial-analysis software shows error rate of 0.8 percent for light-skinned men, 34.7 percent for dark-skinned women.
In November 2023, Robert Williams, arrived home 3 years ago to find the police waiting to arrest him for a crime he did not commit. The police were tipped by by, yes, a non-human. Facial recognition technology falsely linked him to a blurry CCTV video in a watch robbery. The article note that “there are six known instances of wrongful arrest in the US, and the victims in all cases were black people.”.
Perhaps you are questioning how these issues are linked to the impact on human relationships, but we simply cannot ignore that these stories do eventually lead to mistrust in the systems, systems put in place by humans.
The virtual space is filled with ambiguity, as AI enhances productivity while also enabling digital abuse. Effective governance could make AI a tool for inclusivity and improved welfare. However, if used irresponsibly by those in power, AI could push more inequality.
Regions like the EU are beginning to address AI regulation, (EU AI Act, released in Jan 2024), but what does this mean for the rest of the world? For many countries, regulating AI remains a long journey, yet AI continues to spread wildly without sufficient control.
Example from São Paulo, Brazil, Pedro Markun, also known as "Lex," is a hybrid human-AI pre-candidate politician. As a civic hacker and activist, he integrates AI to help decision-making by analyzing data and public sentiment to propose policy solutions. His goal is to make governance more transparent, efficient, and responsive.
Source: Pedro Markun Instagram
ENVIRONMENT
Special Note
IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
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