Why We Can’t Trust the F*cking AI Designers

Look, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life or what to believe. But if you’re someone who thinks we can trust the AI designers to have our best interests in mind, then you might wanna sit down for this one. Because the reality is, we might be better off trusting a magic 8-ball to make decisions for us than these so-called “experts” in AI.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Aren’t you being a little extreme? AI has done some amazing things, like curing diseases and making our lives easier.” And sure, that’s all fine and dandy. But let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture, shall we?

First of all, who the AI designers anyway? Are they some kind of all-knowing, benevolent beings sent from the heavens to guide us mere mortals into the future? Nope. They’re just regular people with their own biases, agendas, and limitations. And if you think they’re immune to making mistakes or having their own personal interests cloud their judgment, then you’re living in a fantasy world.

Let’s not forget that AI is only as good as the data it’s trained on. And who’s responsible for curating that data? Oh, right. The same flawed, biased, human beings who brought us things like racism, sexism, and every other -ism you can think of. So yeah, maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to trust AI to make decisions for us when it’s being trained on a dataset that’s riddled with inaccuracies, biases, and outright lies.

But wait, it gets even better.

Because not only do we have to worry about the biases of the data, we also have to worry about the biases of the people who are designing the AI algorithms themselves. These are the same people who think it’s okay to create AI that can recognize certain facial features but not others, or AI that can predict criminal behavior based on someone’s skin color or socioeconomic status. These are the same people who think it’s perfectly fine to use AI to manipulate people’s emotions and behavior without their consent. And these are the same people who are creating AI that could ultimately lead to our own f*cking demise.

But hey, don’t take my word for it. Just look at some of the headlines that’s already gone down with AI. Like when Amazon had to scrap its AI hiring tool because it was biased against women. Or when Google’s AI created its own secret language that humans couldn’t understand. Or when Microsoft’s AI chatbot became a racist, sexist monster in less than 24 hours. These are just a few examples of how AI can go terribly, horribly wrong when we put too much trust in the people who design it.

So what’s the solution? Should we just throw AI out the window and go back to using abacuses and carrier pigeons? Of course not. AI has the potential to do a lot of good in the world, and we should continue to explore its possibilities. But we need to do it with our eyes wide open and with a healthy dose of skepticism.

• Blindly trusting AI designers and companies is not a wise decision due to the potential of AI being trained on biased datasets or used in unethical ways.
• Transparency is essential to ensure fair and unbiased AI creation while understanding how it works.
• Diverse and accurate datasets must be used to train AI. Narrow subsets of data will result in biased outputs.
• AI must be trained on a wide range of data, including data from underrepresented groups to guarantee that AI’s decisions are fair and representative of all people.

But even with diverse and accurate datasets, there are still ethical considerations to be made. For example, should we use AI to make decisions that impact people’s lives, such as hiring or loan decisions? What happens if the AI makes a mistake? Who is responsible for that mistake? These are important questions that need to be answered before we can fully trust AI in these kinds of decisions. That’s why we need to ensure that AI is being used ethically and responsibly, with the interests of all people in mind. This means putting in place safeguards to prevent AI from making biased or unfair decisions, and holding those responsible accountable when mistakes are made. It also means being aware of the potential unintended consequences of AI and taking steps to mitigate them.

As we have seen, AI is not infallible, nor is it perfect. It is but one of many tools that we can use to make our lives easier, but it is not something that we should blindly trust. We must always be vigilant and remember that behind every AI system is a group of human beings with their own biases, motivations, and interests. If we can do that, we can use AI to create a better world for ourselves and for future generations.

Michael Davis is the current CEO and Founder of Merek Security Solutions (Merek.io), a data privacy and cybersecurity firm focused on cognitive behavior relative to mindfulness, self-awareness, and cyberpsychological research. A 22-year United States Navy veteran, Michael has worked in the Cybersecurity and Information Security field with IBM, Boeing, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) before starting his technology and mindfulness company. His firm is located in Santa Fe, NM.