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Artificial intelligence and its ethical use, increasingly worrying for society

Although most people became aware of the existence of Artificial Intelligence just over two decades ago, at the most, researchers have been working with it for several decades now. But behind closed doors in many cases. Until the arrival of the first systems capable of defeating chess masters, in 1997, when Deep blue defeated Kasparovmost did not realize that, little by little, AI began to gain prominence in society, and also in their lives.

From then until now, Artificial Intelligence has come a long way, and it has done so to such an extent that many are no longer able to distinguish what uses Artificial Intelligence and what does not. It’s everywhere, from virtual assistants to social media and news feeds. Thanks to her we have achieved a lot of progress that has made our lives easier, and even our work. like the rvoice or facial recognition, or biometric identification systems. But it has also brought with it other advances that are, to say the least, impressive. In some cases they are even scary.

Artificial Intelligence, in some cases, is already capable of simulating some aspects of human thought. Or perform some tasks that until not long ago only humans were capable of performing. With more or less skill, or with a greater or lesser sense of artificiality when seeing the results. But there they are. And the way in which AI systems are able to perform certain tasks, such as facial recognition, has long raised eyebrows in certain sectors, and also among the general public. But in many cases not because of what they are capable of doing, but because of who controls it, or who benefits from what an AI system does and what it is used for.

In addition, it should not be forgotten that the understanding of how Artificial Intelligence systems work is far from complete for the general public. And it is common to mistrust what is not well known or mastered. If we add to this that we do not know what the data, actions or information collected through an AI system are used for, or who controls them, mistrust is very great.

Pressure mounts for ethical use of Artificial Intelligence

Usually, few are completely sure that AI systems are used ethically. For this reason, for some time now, there has been an increasingly powerful and widespread movement in favor of the use of Artificial Intelligence systems in an ethical manner. Not only of the systems that are already working today, such as facial recognition, but of those that may arrive in the future. It is no longer just a matter of individuals or groups of individuals. Both entities related to technology or ethics, as well as international organizations and even governments of many countries see it increasingly necessary to have a regulation in charge of establishing limits both to the use of Artificial Intelligence systems

But why so many doubts? Well, on many occasions, ignorance of what is done with the data they collect these systems. Or to suspicions that they are not used in a beneficial way for society or that they are used in a way that invades people’s privacy. If the systems use data that is not appropriate or biased, or information that can be used against certain groups or individuals, the results will not be correct and/or will not have a beneficial purpose. If this is not corrected, technology, instead of moving society forward, makes it go backwards.

Furthermore, Artificial Intelligence, if left unregulated, can also be used for criminal purposes. The data and results that are used and obtained with it, if not regulated, can be used to deceive and manipulate. That is why clear lines are needed on what can and cannot be done with Artificial Intelligence.

How to regulate AI?

To begin with, Artificial Intelligence will have to be regulated in a way that is based on transparency standards ysits uses can be explained simplyso that what each system does and what they are used for, for example facial recognition systems, is clear to the general public. Not only that, but also how the data is collected, which ones are taken and how the systems process it. To achieve this, among other things, it will be necessary to approve common regulations and standards that bring companies, organizations of all kinds and government organizations into agreement.

The standards that are approved will also have to take into account, and assess, the advantages and risks offered by Artificial Intelligence. They will be primarily related to security, and protocols dealing with the management of high-risk AI functions, such as the development and use of bots and voice and facial recognition systems, will need to be approved. Also known as social bots. An example of this is the use of Artificial Intelligence to create faces of people that do not exist through AI: it can be used in movie special effects, but if it is misused it can be used for misinformation, to create hoaxes or to much worse ends.

As for bots, well used they can be used as digital assistants, or as online trackers to collect and classify information. But on social networks they can be used to create fake accounts and manipulate the conversation and spread false or manipulated information. Hence, its use and purpose must be regulated. And make sure, among other things, that in the training of AI systems, as well as in their adjustment and fine-tuning, there are humans who make sure that the ethical criteria established in each case are met.

To establish a regulation that can work, it is necessary to focus on Artificial Intelligence systems, but rather on what they are used for. In other words, we must tend to regulate what is done with AI. For example, it is necessary to control that facial recognition services are not used indiscriminately. Or that the AI ​​systems that use technology or that are used in social networks do not invade privacy or are used to falsify information or profiles. There is also a need to address the use of AI by national and international agencies. Or the banking sector, to name some of those that use these systems.

Who should regulate the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence?

but set who has to deal with regulating Artificial Intelligence for it to be used ethically is complicated. A national government can only do so for its country, or in the case of the European Union, for the countries that form it. For this reason, in certain cases several countries must collaborate in this, and do so independently of the companies.

The bad thing is that, given the state of international relations in many of the countries on the planet, achieving global standards, which would be desirable, seems like an impossible utopia. However, there are entities and official bodies from specific countries that have already got down to work, which is at least a start. The United States, for example, has already worked on a set of rules to regulate it. And the EU, recently, has already presented a regulation for its regulation in the member countries of the European Union.

The bad thing is that in the meantime there is countries that already use AI systems in an invasive way and violating the privacy of their citizens. In China, for example, they use facial recognition systems, among other things, to identify Uyghurs. And it even requires passing a facial recognition test to be able to contract a telephone line. It is precisely because of this type of use that the voices calling for its regulation, although in certain countries it will be impossible to do so, so that Artificial Intelligence is used in an ethical manner, are becoming stronger and more and more worrying. to lops users.

However, it may be that if some large technology companies, such as Google or Microsoft, take the step of supporting AI standards, or decide to establish internal standards regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence systems, it may contribute to the ethical use of AI. , and manage to reach where the governments and official organizations of many countries do not. But we will have to see how the situation evolves in the coming years in the face of the development of ethical Artificial Intelligence systems, something still in its infancy in practically the whole world.

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