LIVING IN WORLD OF MISINFORMATION AND DISTRUST - is it indeed our future? Please join discussion.
 | Those who follow me for a while are aware that Im passionate about AI and blockchain. At the same time I'm concerned about those technologies. Today I would like to share one of my worries with you ... |
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INTRODUCTION
Few days ago I had pleasure to read @xinyuhe post called: "Fake News and A.I. Porn, Why Blockchain Technology Will Prevail":
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@xinyuhe/fake-news-and-a-i-porn-why-blockchain-technology-will-prevail
@xinyuhe directs our attention towards discussions about Artificial Intelligence and some latest achievements in that field. And I must admit that what I've learned impressed me and scared at the same time.
| It seems that with current solutions available on the market it is possible to create fake audio and videos that look and sound very real. And for untrained human eyes, it may not be that easy at all to be able to recognize if you've watched fake content. |  |
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Pretty soon we might not be able to believe our own eyes and ears. We may wonder so often what is real and what's a lie. We can receive voice messages from our brother, who went for vacation and got kidnapped and is begging us to help him with ransom. And many of us would fall for it.
FAKE OBAMA / REAL OBAMA
Impossible? Let me tell you something about a startup called Lyrebird. They just released their product which "allows users to create an audio clip of anyone saying anything".
No words can describe this impressive yet scary development better than watching this short video for yourself:
"Fake Obama created using AI video tool - BBC News"
At the end of this short video some reputable professor from University of Washington said that:
every technology can be used in some negative way and so we all should work towards making sure it't not going to happen.
And even one of the interesting directions is once you know some how to create something then you know how to reverse engineer it.
And so one could create methods for identifying edited videos versus real videos.
She said that looking very optimistic and happy. With a bright shiny smile on her face. Happily sharing a "solution" that is not really a solution for regular people. Or at least I dont see it that way.
| To be able to protect ourselfs from misinformation we will now need to be able to identify real content from fake. And this time it's going to require some decent skills and resources. Which means that at the end of the day most of us will be vonurable. It will be even harder to tell what's real and what is not. How will you even be able to tell if you're talking online to real human or an advanced AI ? |  |
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I'm following this subject related to AI closely and it fascinates me, but at the same time I think that we should be really scared. Not because AI will destroy humanity (Terminator) but rather AI will change the world and many of us will not be able to find a place in this new world. Isn't it scary enough?
STEEMIT
Sometimes I wonder if it would be possible to create AI, that would study posts on Steemit and then would manage it's own blogging channel. This AI would be able to do research, study, collect information and then create valuable posts. On top of that, it could easily target audience in a way we humans will never be able to. And dropping 100 unique comments per hour wont be a problem as well. It may possibly happend. Or maybe some of us still believe that it's Sc-Fi?
CONSEQUENCES
I really like what @xinyuhe wrote:
If the footage and audio generated by these programs become indistinguishable from live footage, what are the implications?
If Cambridge Analytica was simply able to manipulate an entire population just from well placed ads on a social media network, imagine what fake video and audio propaganda can do to disrupt political status quo and influence people’s beliefs and opinions.
I dont think it requires any more comments. I believe that many of us share similar worries. It is our job to share our concerns and voice them loud out. Hopefully we will be heard. I think sharing our worries and building awarness is the best think we can do.
CENSORSHIP
Let's have an example. How difficult will it be to create more FUD within cryptocommunity faking news and backing them up with "real" videos.
Weather we like it or not, but it seem that official goverment run media may be more reliable than ever before comparing to "independent" informations available online. Perhaps some of us will even decide to go back to traditional "paper" newspapers, knowing that whatever is printed is "real".
At the moment, our population is generally against censorship and I see many reasons why is it considered "evil". With blockchain technology where nothing can be removed and censorship hardly exist we will most likely face insane amount of "independent misinformation".
What's your view on that topic? What kind of world are we going to live in? World of misinformation where trust will be something hard to find?
Please share with me.
Yours,
Piotr
| Creating interesting and engaging content require time and resources and I would not achieve it without constant support from: |  www.promib.pl   www.cryptohype.tech |
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sources: http://sites.bu.edu/ombs/2016/12/07/how-artificial-intelligence-is-beginning-to-sense-and-perceive/
Good to know.
While previously I did not know that AI already reached this level, I am not surprised a lot that it did.
The obvious thing to remind, is that the real Obama (and probably any other person you may choose) is already fake, and in other cases just wrong.
However, from now on, I will be more aware of the possibility you showed here.
How to prevent artificially edit faked content from affecting?
Great seeing your comment again @stimialiti
Thanks for your never ending support :)
Let's put Obama on the side and forget about him or other politicians for a moment.
Can you imagine that right now AI could already create 'fake' video of your favourite influencer in which he would make some fake statements, which could affect your financial decisions
Some people mentioned that we need to develop solutions that will allow us to distinguish fake audio/video from real one.
That's a great business opportunity for those who can provide such a solutions. Dont you think?
Big thx for taking the time to reply,
Yours
Piotr
This is what I commented about.
Obama was not the main subject of my comment.
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You will not fall for it if and only if you are not personality centric person. Self-centered people don't care about Obama. Or Hollywood slaves. If you don't worship your fellow men you will not be deceived. For you are not driven by what you see and hear. Propaganda doesn't affect you. Your brother was kidnapped. Was he? Really. Try if you can. Sights and sounds can only influence if you are a slave of it. Sometimes being dead inside helps. If you are dead inside you will not be deceived ever. Besides AI doesn't have vocal cords. They cannot produce a sound without rare earth metals. AI is a scam believe me. It is fascinating but it cannot produce sound without compressing it into MP3. I train machines but they always yield errors. They can never reach perfection ever. Despite what they teach in school in the real world your calculus will not work.
hi,
Big thx for taking the time to reply @mdominicorobin and for sharing your thoughts on this subject. Hope AI will serve us instead of destrying us :)
Yours
Piotr
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Hello @crypto.piotr
SInce I started curate new Products on @steemhunt. I came in contact with the New and powerful projects powered by AI . But this your post has also taken me down a rabbit hole on the dangers of AI
I have always found it hard to understand how Humans thinks, they always find ways to abuse good things.
All the points you listed here have got me worried. We are living in a world where Social Media has Zombified millions of people, now Imagine what happens when AI is added to the mix
Thanks for bringing our awareness to this .
@ogochukwu
Thanks for your comment and sharing your thoughts @ogochukwu
I appreciate a lot.
I feel you. Apparently this is our 'beauty' that we're not predictable and noone can ever understand how do we function or think.
Big thx for taking the time to reply,
Yours
Piotr
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I have a great fear of AI..I have an old school mind set and miss the old days when things were more simple and people thought and did for themselves.
hi,
Big thx for taking the time to reply @vladivostokand for sharing your thoughts on this subject. Hope AI will serve us instead of destrying us :)
Yours
Piotr
I think AI will be about the same as technology has been so far, It will serve and destroy us. Social Media has destroyed how people behave towards each other, it has made them just the opposite of social...the benefits do not outweigh the effects in my opinion. I would prefer to roll back the advancements in technology and slow things down a bit although I know this is not possible, can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. I am just happy I was born at the time I was born, I will see more of the benefits than somebody born in 2018 without seeing the negative effects at their worst. I think technology is interesting but not really a good thing in many ways. Hope you're doing well too, I am just trying to hang in there!
Hi @vladivostok
Im very sorry for such a delay with my replies but currently Ive been overwhelmed with amount of work that has been related to my latest contest. I never expected to receive such an amazing support.
Exacly :/
Thank you for sharing your view. Just wanted to let you know that finally I had a chance to read your comment. Appreciate your time.
Enjoy your weekend :)
Yours
Piotr
It’s been a crazy busy time for sure. Good to hear from you
i don't think most people ever thought for themselves, the psychology of that is the avoidance of guilt and responsibility . If you "do as you're told" then it can be never be your fault . A.I. is an inevitable step, just like the steam to the combustion engine and the light bulb from electricity. Just like global warming its ; o yea i love that david deutsch talk ; its not about preventing it, its already here. Its about dealing with it.
If you drive the theory further and you step away from homo-centrism (nothing to do with gay people) and you consider life to be just that then by all rules of nature technology would , even, no , definitely according to Darwin have a greater chance than carbon based ... it can survive in all kinds of environments, even DEEP SPACE, and it can adapt so
the scary bit there is like technology might actually be the next step in evolution. But to see that you can't consider humans to be at the center of it all. But that's observers paradox (as i call it ... i dont use schoolwords much) because you observe the whole of reality just from where you stand, from nowhere else, so it's easy to make that mistake.
And now for the really hard bit, like darwin is often misunderstood to have preached the law of the strongest, its actually the law of the ones most able to adapt BUT ... the thing with evolution is, for example, maybe homo sapiens werent really the best suited to survive in the long term (look at the state of the planet and its not like we have another one ready here if this one is kaputt) but they DID take out the competition.
and THAT by no means means they are the top of the chain, it just means they conquered the rest, and by doing so they might actually already have put an end to the species because one of the others they extinguished might actuall y have had more chance. It's not because its on top that it's the only one who could surive. The stronger might beat the smarter to a pulp, the smarter might lay a trap for the strong, and pick em off from a distance but the adaptables might simply fall in a hole during an earthquake. its a framework like statistics
SO, in short : technology with not its latest "evolution" of a.i. (which by no means can think for itself yet) might indeed be the way the universe has life prevail over aeons like that
(whew ... when i go, i go, right, sorry :p)
I honestly don’t even like what computers have done to life and how we live ... I would prefer to go back to times where we didn’t rely on them and back to no cell phones. Life was better for me back then
i can't remember ... i was about eight or nine when the old man bought a commodore 64 cos his friend told him it was "a thing" ... but he never looked at it so thats about when i wrote my first hello world ... i used to be a shy a-grade kid, nerdy even, almost stereotypical ... hayfever wouldnt let me play outside in summer, always a loner, even in kindergarten i stood against the wall during breaks wondering what was so much fun about kicking a ball around, watching and observing everyone.
Not that i'm socially awkward, way the other way actually, my last studies were social work actually socio-cultural but life decided otherwise , and now the state my life is in , without a computer and internet i would be completely isolated because in this place where i'm stuck there's nothing for me .
I understand what you're saying but seeing as computers are as old as world war 2 (adn some would say before that) its way from before our lifetime so they have always been here :)
I get it. I had an apple II and that was great. It got boring very fast for me and I went back to being a normal kid. You look around and everyone is on their phones. It’s lame. Life has changed and not for the better in my opinion and it’s getting worse if you ask me. If I could snap my fingers and the Internet and cell phones were gone I would do it. Right after clean my wallet out
lol ... well, i grew up an almost stereotypical nerdy kid, all except the glasses, i had hayfever so there was no playing outside in summer or spring. I've always like alone time anytime except with cats and girlfriends ... hence the cat that walked by himself reference from rudyard kipling. That computer saved me .. i hate television but when it comes to phones really, i usually turn it off when i go outside (tracking paranoia) and i dont even have a sim card in it, i keep a simcard in an old €15 samsung "dumb"-phone in case i need to make a call once or twice a year. I dont like the place i live in very much, and thats been a long time so if i didnt have my internet i would be socially isolated. I actually go out and talk to people in here, but when i go outside italk to about anyone too, im not socially awkward, that shy kid got killed by the rightwing environment i grew up in . but going outside to places where i want to be costs money
which i dont have :)
it IS a fact that if you're riding on a train or bus there's no conversation to be had anymore, and even when going out its like if you want to talk to someone even at a bar its best you text them first to see if they want to look up lol, i know what you mean.
An interesting read. The concerns you raised are concerns I also have so it would be sort of a banality to write at length about them. One question that I always grapple with is one of control. Who will steer the ship? And what will happen when ordinary people have access to these technologies? The scenario with Obama will, I presume, become commonplace. What if I have a vendetta against my neighbor or a family member, I can easily destroy his/her reputation using these devices.
We tend to look at corporations and how they manipulate the populace, but we also do our bit where this is concerned. Just look at social media. At the end of the day, AI is a double edged sword that needs a hand to wield it. Hence, it is less about AI and more about us as human beings using another tool to express the darker side of our characters.
Im glad you found it interesting :)
Thanks for your comment and sharing your thoughts @nicholas83
I appreciate a lot.
It seem that we're on the same page here. Sharing similar concerns.
Exacly!
Some people mentioned that we need to develop solutions that will allow us to distinguish fake audio/video from real one.
That's a great business opportunity for those who can provide such a solutions. Dont you think?
Big thx for taking the time to reply,
Yours
Piotr
At conferences developers are indicated to be careful cause there jobs could be AI-yfied, then they won't develop but administer and program the AI.
Let's go for a steemit AI-yfication :P
hi @sciencevienna
hahaha I hope it will never happend. how can we compete on steemit with AI? :)
yours
Piotr
Our sense for spontaneity and the fact that we suffer / cry after an end of a relationship with girl or boyfriend will make us competitve!
This is something that I think about a lot. Hopefully the solution will work in a similar way to the work around we’ve found for photoshopped images: a health everyday skepticism and an ability to distinguish trustworthy sources of information (and then triangulating with other trustworthy sources if still unsure). The sad truth of the matter here however if that its far easier to trust in a source of information that you agree with rather than one you disagree with, and with the information bubbles that we put ourselves in online tech like this could prove to make the fringes more extreme.
Thank you @nonzerosum for sharing your thoughts with me.
I just started to think about it a lot lately and Im not very happy with my thoughts and conclusions.
It seem that we're on the same page here.
Thx for comment and your constant support
Yours
Piotr
Hi
Im not sure if I understand what you mean by that.
Those are big words but Im not sure what simple people (being victims of fake news and manipulation) can do to protect themselfs and "stay afloat and ascend the lies".
Thx for your engaging in conversation @machnbirdsparo
Trully yours,
Piotr
One of the things we need is clarity of purpose...
... even if just in one area of our lives.
I enjoy running over mountains. This opens my eyes to the flatness of wall.. of tv screens. Does not seem like much until we experience it for ourselves. On that note, I notice that, generally, the only other people I see out on the trails are boy scouts, ex-military, professors, and couples. Seems like all of those folk are looking for a deeper spiritual life.
There has always been fake news. Trump started out calling the traditional media as fake news. Centralized media felt that it lost control over the news they pushed because suddenly both people in power (Trump) and consumers (using the Internet and other sources that were no longer centralized) didn't support them as the official truth anymore. What came back is a fight from them claiming everything is either fake news or at least highly suspect, if it wasn't coming from them. They want to get the control back by asking to control and regulate all information out there. Of course they would again take a central role in this. At the same time technology is moving on. With deep data analytics, AI, deep fakes etc a lot of new things can be faked. Again, this would mostly be done by people in power (Facebook, Google, etc). However we can fight back, using our decentralized technologies. For every faked news item out there, data analytics and AI can be used to check the value of that news. Blockchain can be used to trace back pieces of info to the source, using smart contracts and tokens small AI researchers over the whole world can work together on AI etc etc The struggle for power will continue.
Great seeing your comment again @frankvvv
Thanks for your never ending support :)
But how expensive it would be to proceed with it. Not everyone could afford. Even currently it's hard to recognize which written news is real or fake.
Can you imagine that right now AI could already create 'fake' video of your favourite influencer in which he would make some fake statements, which could affect your financial decisions
Some people mentioned that we need to develop solutions that will allow us to distinguish fake audio/video from real one.
That's a great business opportunity for those who can provide such a solutions. Dont you think?
I like the way you described it :)
Big thx for taking the time to reply,
Yours
Piotr
Wouldn't be that expensive. It's easier to detect fakes than it is to make them. These programs already do exist. Also, right now everyone can make "deep fakes". If you got a good GPU and some open source software + some days to let it calculate everything, you are good to go.
as long as it's more expensive to create fakes than to detect them, then we're quite safe