Revelation: Fear not A.I. but only the humans in charge of it.

As the knowledge of AI spreads, the voices against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence grow louder. But why? Is it because of Hollywood and video games? Is a new race of cyborg assassins inevitable?

We definitely need an alphabet department in the government to manage these new emerging technologies. Think about it, we have an FDA the regulates our food. We have an SEC the regulates our banks. Yet from 1990 to present we still have no department to manage the internet like the FCC managers the airways. 

To be clear I am no religious zealot that believes that advanced cyber technology is the work of the devil. So I am not instinctually hostile towards deep learning or artificial intelligence. I am not certainly calling for its elimination. I know a lot of people out there believe that if we got rid of all of this cyberspace and computers, our lives would somehow be so much better. It is not only preposterous but completely nonsensical. My basic point is we should be regulating technology instead of resisting it.

Remember a few years ago with a woman named Frances Haugen, disclosed tens of thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents to United States Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)? 

For those who don't know, Facebook’s family of apps including its main platform, Facebook messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp  is used by tens of millions of people a day. 

It was around that time we learned about Instagram's impact on teen mental health and Facebook’s failure to police dangerous hate speech and misinformation. Haugen was quoted as saying Zuckerberg has failed to show he can protect the public from the negative effects of his networks. “He has all the control. He has no oversight and he has not demonstrated that he is willing to govern that company at the level that is necessary for public safety.”

Big tech universally, uses machine learning algorithms to assess our interest and inundates us with information that keeps us glued to our screens for as long as possible. Companies aren't using our data to help us, the more clicks we have, the more advertising revenue is generated. Enrage to Engage is the business model. Machine learning algorithms, place users in their own “reality” by spoon-feeding them personalized content. Children are at greater risk for believing misinformation or being manipulated online.  Algorithms routinely trapped our youth in echo chambers. They often confuse this "reality" with  the real world. Society should not allow this type of manipulation to continue. There is no doubt we need regulation.

When I speak about regulation I'm not talking about "government control" , I'm talking about government oversight. Contrary to popular belief oversight doesn’t have to hinder growth. The truth is, oversight can can yield more transparency and consumer benefits. It can level the playing field, both with each  other and with competitors. Politicians, policymakers and lawmakers are often too slow to adjust to the changing technological environment. In the United States for example most lawmakers are lawyers. Typically they're not doctors or teachers or even tech junkies. By the time they debate a new law. That new law is obsolete by the time they enact or even introduce it. Policy makers in the United States can never seem to agree on how to specifically revise rules that have become outdated.  Meaning the policy makers are always one step behind because they are forever using old laws to address new problems. 

At present Big tech has no real incentive to change their algorithms. They making tens of billions of dollars with the way things are. They understand that people feel uncomfortable having their established opinions contradicted. Money men, who run these tech companies play on our insecurities. They know we can't accept content that makes us doubt our "superior" intelligence. These tech barons understand that if we come across a piece of news we consider blatant propaganda from the ,"other side" , we will sign out of their app in anger and disgust. 

To be clear Meta is not the only company that is guilty of creating filter bubbles for profit. They all currently use algorithms to keep users engaged on their platform by providing relevant and interesting posts. They understand that if they keep spoon feeding us only posts that we agree with, we are less likely to be critical of false or misleading videos or memes. These companies know they shape public discourse throughout the world. They also know they dominate the digital advertising space, deciding the winners and losers in the marketplace. And they all know that our children are at the biggest risk of being manipulated because young people tend not to be aware that the content they see is harmful and are therefore unable to know when it’s right to take action. So you see it is not the machines that are the danger, it is the greedy humans. With so much money on the line, big tech will never regulate themselves.