THE PANDORA ’ S BOX OF A . I . | LUMEN is the dissemination of AI-generated fake news . AI can efficiently generate results such as images that are tailored to prompts such as ‘ Donald Trump Escapes from Jail ’, which was a real prompt that was used to depict a narrative around former U . S . president Donald Trump ’ s criminal conviction , from a fictional arrest to a fictional escape . Given the enthralling and highly relevant nature of the images , they spread like wildfire and led many to believe that these images were real photographs , especially since the quality of these AI images was recreated to such a high , realistic representation . Another such example would be the fictional image you see below , which I have created by entering the prompt ‘ Putin and Zelensky shaking hands ’ before superimposing it into a BBC News article template . As a result , these images have blurred the line between reality and fiction , which only makes it harder for the readers to tell the truth apart .
As if this was not enough already , another unscrupulous group of people are also making full use of AI to
deceive people , t h e scammers .
Previously , one of the telltale signs of a scam was the broken or improper use of English used in texts , but AI has enabled scammers to bypass this and use error-free language to create more legitimate-looking messages . Furthermore , they have also used AI technologies to create “ deep fakes ”, to impersonate well-known celebrities or public figures to endorse their own schemes . Scammers have used deep fakes of individuals such as Elon Musk to endorse schemes and use click-baiting headlines such as ‘ Even the world ’ s richest man believes in this scheme that will make you a millionaire in no time ! Join now !’ As a result , there has been and will continue to be an exponential rise in the number of scam victims . With the proliferation of more advanced AI technologies , even those who are equipped to spot the signs of AI-generated content have fallen prey to scams .
We have all seen too many action-packed sci-fi movies where an AI robot becomes human-like and plots a plan to destroy humanity , with the most famous entity being Skynet in the 1984 film Terminator . It has become such a popular gimmick amongst filmmakers that in fact , it is the most prominent concern about AI for many today . Though the notion that AI would spell the end for humanity seems far from becoming reality , questions continue to arise about the direction that AI is heading towards consciousness . AI can now learn and process lots more information in a fraction of the time that a human would take to do the exact same thing , meaning that such technologies could become much more intelligent than humans in the very near future . One severe implication of this is that countless mundane jobs may one day be deemed irrelevant , costing millions around the world their livelihoods . This could potentially even lead to the replacement of teachers and professors , with some schools in China using AI to mark student essays . However , the role of a teacher is more than just marking , and I feel that if I was interacting with an AI in class , I would lose the invaluable teacher-student bond and feel empty talking to an inanimate voice . I believe that this will lead to ineffective learning in subjects such as Literature , Art or Music , which require skills that extend beyond the comprehension of AI .
AI is a new and complex technology that humans have yet to fully comprehend its power and impact on mankind and society eventually . Now , it may seem like just a gigantic assembly of code lurking “ out there ” in the cloud , on our internet browsers . It is imperative that there are ample reviews and control over the way these systems should be used at every step of the way . If we keep funnelling money and resources into these systems for short-term economic gains , we may reach a point of no return , where the sheer power of AI can no longer be contained and could one day , destroy humanity .
21