We cannot blame a mirror by what it reflects, the same issue is applicable to the use of AI. If AI can be used to create something harmful, it does not automatically mean that it’s bad. The bad one is the person operating the tool, which is us. AI can only create what we ask it to create, but the intention that comes behind the creation comes from us.
For instance, you can imagine someone using AI to create fake news about someone. Firstly, they are misleading people, and secondly, they could even damage the reputation that person has built for years. They make people believe things that never happened. I’ve seen a lot of cases like this on social media, that it was later discovered that the story was AI-generated. Although technology makes it possible, we humans are still responsible for giving the command.
Using the analogy of a mirror, the mirror does not create our face, it only shows us how our face looks. The same way with AI, I feel that AI can sometimes reveal what is already inside the person using it. Imagine someone using AI to deliberately create something inhuman, or something embarrassing. When you try to confront them, they’ll always say, “It’s just an AI, and they don’t mean it.” But I wonder, if that thought wasn’t already in their mind, would they create it in the first place?
However, I’m not saying everyone who creates something questionable with AI is a bad person. People can make mistakes sometimes or even try to experiment. But when someone intentionally creates something harmful or misleading, I don’t think we can remove human responsibility and then blame the technology behind it.
I’m also going to use a car for an example. We all know that owning a car can solve a lot of problems, it can ease us a lot of stress. We can take it to work, the market, church, in fact, anywhere we know we can access with the car. But that same car can still be used to harm someone if handled by someone with bad intentions. We can’t blame the car, but the person who performs the action. And we cannot ban people from using cars because others misused them. Just like the way all these technology tools are used, AI can also be used the same way.
AI should not be banned because of the way some people choose to misuse it. A lot of people find it useful. Students use it for research and learning, people use it to understand difficult topics, people use it to improve their work and businesses, and others use it for creativity and the likes. So, it will be unfair to ban it while ignoring all those things people benefit from it.
I feel there should be a way to prevent people from turning AI technology into a weapon against others. Honestly, I don’t know a perfect solution to it, but maybe developers need some kind of stronger safeguards about AI usage, or maybe governments need reasonable regulations that will prevent people from using AI to manipulate or deceive people.
One of the reasons some people are against AI is because of the way people misuse it, and I honestly understand their concerns. But either people accept it or not, I believe AI technology has come to stay because of the benefits it offers to a lot of people. Some people even use it as a source of income, they use it to do reasonable things, so if it is banned, what will become the fate of people who built legitimate businesses around it? For me, I see AI as a tool, just like any other tool. We, as humans, are the ones controlling its wheel. What it becomes depends on how we choose to use it.
Images were created with AI.