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Artificial intelligence
OpinionComment
Colleen K. Howe
Colleen K. Howe

The View | Hong Kong can ensure artificial intelligence remains a force for good

  • The steady rise of AI technology has left governments, industries and institutions scrambling to catch up and establish rules of the road
  • As a knowledge-based economy, Hong Kong can lead the way in building a regulatory framework that limits the harmful impact of AI and maximises its benefits

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Online chatbots are becoming increasingly sophisticated, capable of performing daily office tasks like writing emails. Photo: TNS
Colleen K. Howe

Would you want to talk to a digital version of your loved one after they have died? The idea may sound like something out of the dystopian sci-fi series Black Mirror (and as it turns out, the idea did feature in a 2013 episode). But it’s not entirely science fiction.

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Using artificial intelligence, the California-based company HereAfterAI lets people “talk” to loved ones who have passed on, though it’s unclear how realistic the experience is at the moment. But as this kind of technology improves, one can expect a range of views about how society should address it.

Similar discussions are already under way thanks to the release of ChatGPT last month by OpenAI, which Elon Musk co-founded. The chatbot can write sonnets, tell jokes (including in the style of an existing person or work of literature), and do many of the tedious tasks performed by office workers.
From the outpourings online, it’s clear the release has captured people’s imagination – including in China, where OpenAI hasn’t made the tool available but where it has nevertheless proved popular among internet users who have gained access using foreign phone numbers.

AI tools have been quietly proliferating in most sectors. But ChatGPT has driven home just how swift that progress has been. Indeed, incremental advancements tend to go unnoticed until a truly disruptive technology emerges.

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That said, AI can be a force for good if properly managed. Many business leaders are thinking carefully about how the AI revolution will affect societies, especially in Japan, which has long looked to automation to help cope with an ageing population.
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