I Mean AI is learning…. LEARNING, like us, with actual brains

BY KHADIJA KARIM

Let’s face it, AI is going to be something bigger than us. AI started out as a “In the future,” concept, but now? It’s looking like we are living in that future. Sounds kind of scary right? I mean AI is learning…. LEARNING, like us, with actual brains. It’s learning what we fear, what we like, what we hate, it’s learning us from the inside out, we’re becoming open books for something that seems to be growing out of our reach.

Imagine this; arguing with someone that knows your likes, your thoughts, your habits — that’s what’s happening nowadays. AI is starting to “win” arguments and convince people using their personal information, and it’s changing our opinions, our beliefs, the way we speak; it’s changing our perspectives, and maybe that’s the most dangerous factor out of them all.

““AI isn’t just learning from us — it’s learning about us.”

AI programs, like chatbots, or virtual assistants, teach themselves about us from the little things like, every time we: like a photo, share a comment, or search for something. When we do these things, we give away tiny pieces of our personal information. These pieces may not seem like a big deal at first, but when mushed together they can tell a lot about us, sometimes stuff even we don’t know. AI uses that data to carefully craft messages that are more likely to persuade us into anything it wants and surprisingly, it’s pretty good at it.

In a recent study, researchers found that AI models like GPT-4 were better than real people at convincing others, especially when they had just a little basic information. This could mean things like age, gender, or beliefs. With just this minimal amount of knowledge, the AI could make arguments that felt personal to that certain person, making it harder for people to disagree in different situations.

This may sound like a good thing, maybe even helpful, but it also raises some big red flags. Such as, is it really okay for a robot to use our private info to try to change our minds? Can we even identify when AI is being used to influence us? Most of the time, we don’t. That’s where the problem begins.

So, what can we do? First, we need to be more aware. Every click, like, and post online can teach AI more about who we are. Second, we should learn how AI works so we can spot when it’s being used to persuade us. Lastly, we should push for stronger rules to protect our data and keep things fair.

AI can be a great tool, but it must be used with its proper guidelines. We are the generation growing up with AI, so it’s up to us to make sure it helps us, not controls us.