The growing threat of unchecked AI power
In the media image: Immo Wegmann on Unsplash
Reijer Passchier, Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of Digitisation and the Democratic Constitutional State at the OU, warns in ‘HP/De Tijd’ how little control we actually have over AI, while powerful companies gain increasing influence on our democratic society.
Recent research conducted by the International Labour Organization shows that generative AI will affect a quarter of jobs worldwide. Passchier argues that we often think that we humans retain control over AI systems, while that idea is an illusion. The systems are becoming increasingly complex, decision-making processes are not very transparent, and we are losing control. He warns that it is not the technology per se that poses the greatest danger, but the people behind the technology: those who make decisions about design, use, data, algorithmic priorities, and those who have access to the systems. Carelessness, certain interests and positions of power can lead to abuse or damage.
Passchier is also concerned ‘that there’s very little public accountability of such companies’ – particularly not in the US, although Europe is doing its best to address this problem. Another major concern, according to Passchier, is the shift from labour to capital. He says that in the last 200 hundred years, we seem to have developed a blind faith in technology – bordering on a new religion. ‘But technology is never neutral, as there are always winners and losers.’ The problem is that we keep getting carried away by the latest gadgets and we take the adverse consequences for granted. 'In that sense, I see technology as a kind of Faustian pact: for a bit of sensation and a few attractive gadgets, we’re always willing to sell our souls to the devil.'
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Read the full article in HP/De Tijd (in Dutch)