Already a subscriber?Recognising that society is cowering before a “tsunami of tech hype”, Susie Alegre has written an eye-opening book to dispel it. The central message ofis clear: AI “needs to serve, rather than subvert, our humanity”. In around 200 pages, Alegre highlights some egregious “robot wrongs” – instances where our humanity is subverted – and challenges us to act.
Sex, like death, is a defining human experience with which science and technology interact uneasily. Apparently overwhelmed by the complexity of human interactions, both sexes have taken to using AI chatbots. Wanting to feel safe in a relationship is one thing, but seeking complete control over another person? Not only is this dehumanising, says Alegre, but it often goes badly.
Generative AI, like ChatGPT, may have fired the public imagination, but Alegre sees human creativity at risk. Asking “Who is Susie Alegre?” was dispiriting as the system failed to find her despite 25 years’ worth of publications, including a well-received book,“Writing women out of their own work is not unique to AI,” she observes dryly. Nevertheless, the failure is striking. “Whatever you ask it, ChatGPT will just make up plausible stuff.
Alegre doubts AI can reliably work out what is lawful and not. Furthermore, AI remains prone to “hallucinations” and “inexplicably incorrect outputs”. If fully autonomous weapons are in use, “this means arbitrary killing”. Who is accountable when mass death results from a glitch in the system? The use of AI blurs lines of responsibility when things go wrong, as they inevitably do.
In another set of legal proceedings – the inquest into the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell – executives from social media companies Meta and Pinterest were summoned and challenged. As, Molly suffered from a depressive illness and was vulnerable due to her age. Recommendation algorithms provided her with text, images and video of suicide and self-harm that negatively impacted her mental health, leading her to take her own life in 2017.
It is also a “fallacy” she says, “that virtual worlds are somehow greener”. Manufacturing and disposing of the devices we use has an enormous environmental impact, and even before the AI boom, the information, computing and technology sector produced more emissions than global aviation fuel.
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