The View | In race to curb AI algorithm misuse, China is leading the US
- With AI playing a big role in US-China rivalry, how both nations curb the excesses of tech giants and deal with the problems of social media addiction and predatory corporate behaviour is being closely watched
Every day, artificial intelligence algorithms affect how billions of people watch, work, buy and think.
While not inherently harmful, competition for our attention on platforms like Meta, YouTube and Twitter has, in many respects, “downgraded” humanity and launched a “‘race to the bottom of the brain stem’ … to extract attention by hacking lower into our lizard brains”, as the non-profit organisation Center for Humane Technology puts it.
In the US, Congressional hearings have taught the public that this “human downgrading” is because social media giants fail to put the public interest in truth or justice first. Instead, to maximise profits, their business model is predicated on driving and hooking users to their content, and in consequence fracturing common ground on already divisive issues.
The hearings exposed how social media AI algorithms reinforce groupthink to ensnare human attention, and in so doing promote misinformation at scale. The Senate held a hearing on “persuasive technology” in June 2019, and another on social media algorithms in April 2021. Both provided an in-depth look at the widespread harm that AI algorithms cause society.
