There is an article in today's Star about the threat to Canadian democracy posed by artificial intelligence. However, I can't help but wonder if the real threat is human stupidity.
Raisa Patel writes:
Whether it’s manipulated video, voices or text, Canada is at risk of seriously endangering its democratic institutions if it doesn’t get a grip on regulating artificial intelligence, one of the world’s foremost AI leaders warned Monday.
The use of such tactics — which are becoming increasingly common at a time when high-stakes elections are set to be held around the globe — “can fool a social media user and make them change their mind on political questions,” said Yoshua Bengio, scientific director of the Mila-Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute.
“There's real concern about the use of AI in kind of politically oriented ways that go against the principles of our democracy.”
Bengio, who is also the co-chair of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s AI advisory council, was speaking to the House of Commons industry committee as it studies a bill seeking to reign in and regulate the rapidly developing technology.
Given that fake videos and voices have now reached the point where they are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, it is sad that there is no inoculation available against human credulity.
On the other hand, however, is it really too much to expect people to inspect their sources? Surely it is one of the 21st century's greatest ironies that we live in a time when the world's information and knowledge is available literally at our fingertips, yet many people choose to use the internet simply to verify their own ignorance and prejudices. Instead of checking a reputable media source or even Snopes to see whether something is true, there are those that will rely only on their Telegram channels, Q-Anon, Facebook groups and other discredited sources, happy to label and dismiss mainstream media as lamestream media.
That is capitulation, not critical thinking, and it appears to be endemic. I found myself thinking more about this last night as I watched the news about the latest Trump outrage. Apparently, even though a private citizen, he is giving direction to Congress to block a southern border deal because he wants to make it an election issue. While not a perfect bill, it becomes painfully obvious that a problem near and dear to so many Americans, and a clear Achilles Heel for Joe Biden, takes a back seat to the political machinations of Trump and the gutless Republicans who pay him complete obeisance.
In a normal world where people thought deeply about such things, all of this would be so obvious. Yet the MAGA crowd and others will undoubtedly let weak and corrupt politicians do their thinking for them.
In Canada, things are not much different. Increasing numbers prefer PP's aphorisms ("Axe the tax", "Jail, not bail") to real policy discussion. Sadly, no legislation regulating artificial intelligence here can do a thing about a dearth of natural intelligence. As I have said many times before, we truly are a deeply flawed species.
