Sadly, I doubt whether developers, corporate end users et al will expend necessary resources on effective mitigations unless legally compelled by policy makers to do so.
I think we're almost certain to see a 'wild west' scenario for a number of years, unfortunately. For the vast majority of emerging uses of AI - the cat's already out of the bag. The issues you've identified and discussed in this excellent post will happen frequently and there will be many victims of fraud, misinformation, and discrimination - largely because we've spent the last few decades spilling so much information out into the ether with no real concern for how it might be (mis)used in the future!
However, I think there is something of an opportunity here, too. Though it's probably a lost cause trying to prevent these attacks completely - especially with the current state of the data environment we've created over the last 30-40 years - educating and building tools and processes to help secure people against the *impact* of these threats seems both a moral & ethical imperative, and an interesting social / commercial venture. Similar to how credit unions were created in large part to help secure people against predatory lending and to encourage healthy financial behaviour, I believe the equivalent in the digital realm - for data and services, is much needed.
As @paulbackhouse mentioned in his comment, without being legally compelled - it's unlikely that the right safeguards will be put into place by those building AI systems and services: and as we've seen with banks themselves - I don't necessarily believe regulation and law is enough anyway. In my view, we need to encourage healthy behaviour, educate about risks, and provide institutions and frameworks that mitigate risk for ordinary people, whether or not the legal landscape keeps pace with the technological landscape.
All innovations are accompanied by 'wild west' scenarios. However, this will be the biggest challenge we've ever faced. Thanks for bringing up the opportunities since it is a necessary aspect of this process. Let’s hope we’ll see a decent amount of opportunities to keep the balance on the road we’re about to pass.
Inpressive exhaustive analysis Nat.
Sadly, I doubt whether developers, corporate end users et al will expend necessary resources on effective mitigations unless legally compelled by policy makers to do so.
Thanks for your valued feedback, dear Paul! It means a lot and I agree with you. Wish you a blissful day ahead.
I think we're almost certain to see a 'wild west' scenario for a number of years, unfortunately. For the vast majority of emerging uses of AI - the cat's already out of the bag. The issues you've identified and discussed in this excellent post will happen frequently and there will be many victims of fraud, misinformation, and discrimination - largely because we've spent the last few decades spilling so much information out into the ether with no real concern for how it might be (mis)used in the future!
However, I think there is something of an opportunity here, too. Though it's probably a lost cause trying to prevent these attacks completely - especially with the current state of the data environment we've created over the last 30-40 years - educating and building tools and processes to help secure people against the *impact* of these threats seems both a moral & ethical imperative, and an interesting social / commercial venture. Similar to how credit unions were created in large part to help secure people against predatory lending and to encourage healthy financial behaviour, I believe the equivalent in the digital realm - for data and services, is much needed.
As @paulbackhouse mentioned in his comment, without being legally compelled - it's unlikely that the right safeguards will be put into place by those building AI systems and services: and as we've seen with banks themselves - I don't necessarily believe regulation and law is enough anyway. In my view, we need to encourage healthy behaviour, educate about risks, and provide institutions and frameworks that mitigate risk for ordinary people, whether or not the legal landscape keeps pace with the technological landscape.
All innovations are accompanied by 'wild west' scenarios. However, this will be the biggest challenge we've ever faced. Thanks for bringing up the opportunities since it is a necessary aspect of this process. Let’s hope we’ll see a decent amount of opportunities to keep the balance on the road we’re about to pass.
Excellent post, Nat! Best single-source roll-up and analysis I’ve seen. I just cross-posted this on LinkedIn.
Much gratitude for your kindness. Thrilled to learn you find it useful! B
Best regards,
Nat