Understanding the Need for Regulations in AI

Following the turn of the century, Artificial Intelligence (AI), has become an integral part of our lives in an ever-expanding digital economy. With advancements in technology and a growing reliance on internet infrastructure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, our online access to information and content has increased exponentially.

This digital expansion has created a sandbox environment for AI systems to collect public and private information shared online, where it can process immense quantities of information through Deep Learning algorithms that can draw key insights for numerous industries. 

However, all of this data is causing concern from consumers who do not want their private information being used and sold as a product by businesses without their consent. While big data has been a topic of legal debate during the past decade, the addition of AI creates a new challenge that needs to be solved before consumers can feel confident that unethical business practices aren’t manipulating them. 

The Basics of AI

AI has a wide range of ways that it can be applied across nearly every industry and field of study, making it incredibly useful for completing tasks faster and more efficiently. In many instances, AI can help perform tasks that would be otherwise impossible for humans to do on their own with the assistance of predictive analytics. 

There are two types of AI that are generally referred to when talking about AI:

• Narrow AI: This form of AI is designed to perform a small range of tasks exceptionally well such as chatbots using Natural Language Processing or image recognition from convolutional neural networks. 

• General AI: This type of AI takes a more comprehensive approach, creating a system that can perform the same level of cognitive tasks as humans and is considered to be the next major step in AI technology. 

As mentioned earlier, there are numerous industries that AI technology can be integrated into such as finance and healthcare. In these instances, AI can make powerful predictions by analyzing small patterns in data that can help create stronger investment strategies or help detect early signs of serious disease. 

The Impact of AI on Society

With so much development, there are numerous ways that AI is impacting societies, both positively and negatively. Due to this evolving influence over our digital world, legal teams are being called to assess the pros and cons of further development and how it will affect our future. 

There are many examples of how AI is impacting society positively, simplifying tasks for humans so that they can focus on more pressing matters. This has already created a major leap in factories and workshops that have installed industrial robotics to help with production since the early 1960s. 

Unfortunately, with the inclusion of AI, there are many red flags being raised over their training material and how these systems use private information to make their predictions. Legal matters are also becoming more abundant over the use of copyrighted material to train AI systems.

However, the largest impact on our society, and the most fearful for many, is how it will displace jobs around the world. AI and robotics have already begun phasing out many of the most mundane tasks in factories, and with a growing trend in generative AI, more people are worried that careers requiring years of schooling and education will be at risk.  

Case Studies on the Misuse of AI

With AI’s prevalence growing so much over the past few decades, there have already been a few major issues in response to the use of AI and its ethical concerns:

• Cambridge Analytica Scandal: The British political consulting firm made major headlines after it was discovered that they were using AI to analyze data gathered from Facebook without user consent to heavily influence democratic processes globally. 

• Amazon’s AI Recruiting Tool: In 2018, it was revealed that Amazon was using an AI model for resume screening that was showing a large bias against women after continuing societal dilemmas inadvertently represented in its training material. 

• Facial Recognition Misidentifications: In 2020, law enforcement in Detroit attempted to use AI for facial recognition and wrongfully arrested Robert Julian-Borchak Williams, evoking anger over the use of AI by the police. 

These cases show how AI can be used incorrectly, leading to major disruptions in society from poor hiring tactics to major police misconduct and even skewed political power. 

The Current State of AI Regulation

As AI continues to evolve, there is a growing need for regulations and laws regarding the technology to keep pace. Just recently in June 2023, The European Union passed the Artificial Intelligence Act which does many things including banning the use of real-time biometric identification systems in public spaces and disclosures from generative AI services like ChatGPT. 

However, in some countries like the United States, legislation has been less direct. Although there are many laws and regulations regarding data collection and autonomous vehicles, there are no major frameworks for the use of AI. 

CEOs like Sam Altman and Elon Musk have made considerable efforts to alert the public, demanding that more serious focus be given to the technology. During his first testimony to Congress, Sam Altman expressed a need to license businesses that offer AI products as a way to place safeguards around unknown consequences. 

The Challenges of Regulating AI

Regulating AI is easier said than done. There are many challenges that pose a problem, starting with jurisdiction and enforcement. AI systems exist all over the world and are not all developed in one, single location. Without a global system that has a strong internet presence, it will be difficult to prevent AI technology from being used maliciously. 

However, a global system would not cleanly solve every problem either. Many countries have different motives and goals that interfere with other nations all the time and AI is no different. In the context of war or economic rivalry, It will be difficult to get every nation to follow the same rules despite their best interests. 

This issue is compounded by the fact that AI is developing at an exponential rate, too quickly for many legal frameworks to develop. In cases like ChatGPT, some business leaders are calling for a temporary halt on generative AI services because they fear that it will disrupt regulatory advancements. 

Of course, this then leads to social problems as many people disagree on banning a product for being innovative. It is easy to argue that the halting of generative AI services is anti-capitalistic and calls from Altman to require licensing for new AI businesses would lessen OpenAI’s competition, giving them more time to lobby for laws in their favor. 

Potential Solutions regarding AI Regulations

Despite the challenges, there are still many ways that regulations can be properly introduced and incorporated into AI systems around the world. Through legislative action and industry self-regulation from some of AI’s leading experts, frameworks are already being developed to help govern AI in a meaningful way. 

It’s important, though, that we adopt these measures sooner than later. Over time, AI systems will continue to adapt, making today’s technology look archaic. As these algorithms become more sophisticated, it won’t be long until sentience occurs, forcing AI regulations to take a massive shift as a new intelligent species is born.