Artificial intelligence (AI) generators have, in many ways, revolutionized the way we interact with technology. AI generators can generate human-like text, pictures, audio, and even video content with increasing accuracy and speed. Deep Faking can use deep learning techniques to create a video containing a real person. However, with this newfound power comes a darker side to AI generators, where their potential to mimic people and create fake news is causing concern.
With great power…
One of the most concerning aspects of AI generators is their ability to imitate people. AI language models can generate fake social media posts, emails, and other types of written communication in someone else’s name, making it difficult to distinguish between real and fake content – this not only poses a threat to individuals but also undermines the trust in information shared online. The potential for AI-generated content to be used in misinformation campaigns is extremely high, further accelerated by the power and capabilities of the tools currently available, and could have far-reaching consequences.
Another major issue with AI generators is the creation of fake news. AI algorithms can generate articles, videos, and images that look and sound convincing, making it easy for fake news to spread online. These generators can be tuned to target specific keywords and implement good search engine optimization techniques for any content they generate. This can lead to public confusion and mistrust, as well as potentially harmful consequences for individuals and communities.
…comes great responsibility
OpenAI are already working on the issue of detecting AI generated text – they’ve made a demo available for use that you can copy text into for analysis. The results are a bit hit and miss, and generating content and then editing it will nearly always result in an “unlikely” or “very unlikely” response.
Images generated by DALL-E have a watermark in the bottom right corner, but as long as you don’t actively mislead people, OpenAI’s guidelines allow you to remove this. You may have noticed that many of the article banner pictures used on Running Down The Way Up have this watermark – these images are all generated by DALL-E.
Mayachitra created a website to detect AI generated images. Likewise with OpenAI’s generated text generator, running a selection of AI generated pictures returned mixed results.
ElevenLabs have confirmed they can trace back any audio created to the user that generated it, but want to implement additional safeguards to prevent the abuse in the first place where possible. They aim to release a system to verify whether particular audio was generated using the service and to report abuse, and will also require account sign up (with limitations) and a paid tier (with less limitations) to combat anonymous abuse.
Artificial bias, or just bias?
The negative impacts of AI generators can also be seen in their potential to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and biases. AI language models are trained on large amounts of text data, which often reflect the biases and stereotypes of the people who generated the data. This means that AI generators may perpetuate these biases in the content they generate, leading to further harm and discrimination.
Another potential issue with AI generators is intentional bias implemented by the developers of the technology. AI algorithms are created and trained by human beings, who may have their own biases and prejudices. If these biases are not identified and addressed, they can be reflected in the AI algorithms and the content generated by them. This can result in the amplification of existing societal biases and discrimination, leading to serious consequences for marginalized groups. In some cases, developers may intentionally implement biases to manipulate the output of the AI generators for their own gain.
In conclusion
While AI generators have the potential to bring many benefits, their darker side must also be acknowledged. From imitating people and creating fake news to perpetuating harmful biases, the negative impacts of AI generators should not be overlooked. It is important for individuals, businesses, and governments to be aware of these issues and work towards finding ways to mitigate their effects and ensure the responsible development of AI technology.