Unmasking the Shadows: Exploring Unethical AI Implementation

1. Introduction

In recent years, the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has been nothing short of meteoric, transforming myriad facets of our daily lives and the global economy. Advances in machine learning and deep learning drive this rapid evolution. Vast amounts of data have empowered industries from healthcare to finance. It is enhancing efficiency and spawning entirely new business models. Innovations such as personalized medicine, autonomous vehicles and smart home devices directly result from this AI revolution. AI promises unprecedented opportunities, such as economic growth and improved quality of life. At the same time, it also presents significant challenges. Concerns over job displacement, privacy infringements and algorithmic biases have sparked global debates. Ethical considerations surrounding AI's decision-making processes and its broader societal implications have come to the forefront. In the history of human achievement, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) stands as one of the most transformative. Like all powerful tools, AI is not immune to misuse. For instance, the case of 'Deepfake' technology is built upon advanced neural networks. Deepfakes allow for the creation of hyper-realistic but entirely fake content. While it's marveled at as an impressive feat of AI, it has also been weaponized to produce misleading videos. It is causing defamation and spreading disinformation as well. Another example is the use of AI in surveillance. Cities like Beijing have implemented facial recognition systems that can identify any one of its millions of residents in seconds. While touted as a means for enhanced security, it also raises severe concerns about individual privacy and the potential for state control. In the realm of commerce, companies have been caught using AI-driven algorithms that perpetuate bias. An infamous instance is a job recruitment tool that trained on historical hiring data and started favouring male candidates over female ones for tech jobs. It amplified gender bias. The autonomous weapons sector, often termed as “killer robots”, also poses an ethical dilemma. AI powers these machines and can make life-or-death decisions without human intervention. The moral implications of a machine deciding the fate of a human being are profound and unsettling.

Even in simple things like suggesting movies or shopping items, AI can accidentally make people only see things they already agree with. This can make people more polarized and exacerbate inequality as opposed to eliminating it. Many examples like this show we need to think about how we use AI in the right way. As we move into a future with more AI, we need to make sure we use it fairly. There are many examples of of historical failure while using AI (please see table 12.1)