AI Challenges Continue

Quite a lot has happened this month already in the world of tech, media, entertainment, sports, politics, but perhaps most alarmingly in AI. Between the horrific trolls flooding X with graphic Taylor Swift AI fakes, George Carlin's Estate Suing Podcasters Over A.I. Episode, a fake burning Eiffel Tower + Big Ben videos and more, this past week has shown that without any AI regulation, we lack any balance between enabling the potential benefits of artificial intelligence while minimizing its risks.

First up - Taylor, the ongoing failure of X, and a terrifying reality for women. This past week horrifying, sexually explicit AI-generated images of Swift were circulating on X, one in particular on X attracted more than 45 million views over 17 hours up before it was pulled down largely due to the hundreds of fans who reported it when the platform failed in its safety feature even thought the term “Taylor Swift AI” became featured as a trending topic, until X canceled the search and the user. This is just the latest example of the proliferation of AI-generated fake pornography and the challenge of stopping it from spreading. We have seen multiple cases of high-profile deep fakes, from celebrity impersonation (like the Tom Cruise user) to voice mimicking (in the case of a Biden voice bot), which will continue in myriad ways, to possible detriment. How all of this is not fully illegal (yet), I do not understand, but this lawyer gave a great break down on the matter. (In related news, X owner Elon Musk got his hand slapped by a judge and Tesla shareholders today)

Per The Verge: Microsoft Responsible AI Engineering Lead Sarah Bird confirmed the changes, saying, “We are committed to providing a safe and respectful experience for everyone. We are continuing to investigate these images and have strengthened our existing safety systems to further prevent our services from being misused to help generate images like them.” X’s policies regarding synthetic and manipulated media and nonconsensual nudity both explicitly ban this kind of content from being hosted on the platform. While representatives for X, Swift, and the NFL have not responded to our requests for comment, X did post the following public statement almost a day after the incident began, but without mentioning the Swift images specifically.

Secondly, IP violations such as the recent incident with George Carlin's Estate Suing Podcasters Over A.I. Episode. While there have been a number of instances of people trying to steal ideas and intellectual property over the years, AI has given people more opportunities to be brazen more than ever, so expect to see more examples of the recent “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead.” Released on (and then pulled from) YouTube, it was framed as an hour of new “material” by the comedian, who died in 2008. Of course, it wasn’t - it was written by a couple of guys behind the YT channel Dudesy (and not solely AI generated as originally reported, but it certainly helped.)

Lastly, identifying fake images as part of ever day media literacy is becoming more and more of a problem - just see the recent examples of people believing the circulating AI-generated burning Eiffel Tower + Big Ben videos. But in a country like America, when critical thinking is being minimized in education, I fear the masses distinguishing between real and fake content, and we have already seen what this does when it comes to propaganda and politics. It may seem like common sense, but not everyone is as entrenched in media as some of us are, and I personally know people who have sent me images on social media that I identified immediately as fake, which is something that even Professor Scott Galloway (who is very media savvy) mentioned in his recent ‘Pivot’ podcast episode, noting that his teenage son corrected him on pointing out a fake AI generated video of a major athlete. (*This is why media literacy is paramount, and why I am continuing to research media psychology).

While Europe has moved forward with sweeping landmark AI regulation, America lags far behind, which is ringing the alarm in an election year. Stay vigilant, and correct people often. We need it.

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