AI needs to be regulated
Regarding “Board orders clarity on Meta’s deepfake policy” (Feb. 7):
When Orville and Wilbur Wright started work on their “flying machines,” it was inevitable that in the interest of progress, with regard to man’s ability to conquer gravity, there might be some injuries, maybe even fatalities. It was understood that the risk-versus-benefit ratio made it worthwhile and should they succeed it would forever change the course of history for mankind.
And so it did, but not always for the best. You need only see how planes ramped up the killing in wars.
Nevertheless, the benefits for travel and exploration here on Earth and in space cannot be denied. Now we are facing a more daunting invention: AI.
AI, to be sure, has the potential to benefit mankind, if it doesn’t destroy us first. On its own, with close scrutiny and oversight it, like the airplane, can be a tool that humans control to make our lives easier, safer and more educational. But incorporating it with social media is like the Wright brothers deciding to allow 2-year-olds to do their test flights only during tornados. The prognosis for destruction would be guaranteed.
Such is the dilemma we are facing now with the pervasiveness of deepfakes on social media. To be sure, they are not created by moral, honorable people. Their motives are manipulative, self-serving and harmful to the very survival of our species as a kinder, gentler nation.
The gurus who have created these platforms need to put aside their greed and egos and create an overseer to quash these deepfakes. There is no benefit to allow this to influence our elections, to destroy reputations, to promote misinformation. There is only risk, and it is a doozy.
Arlene Murphy Ridgewood