Quentin Parker

Opinion | How Hong Kong can play a role in preventing AI Armageddon

The greatest threats to humanity may arise from uncontrolled AI, which not only becomes indistinguishable from that of human intelligence but rapidly surpasses it

Regulatory oversight of AI technology is urgently needed and Hong Kong, with its world-class universities and trusted regulatory infrastructure, can be a global leader

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Why you can trust SCMP

Quentin Parker

Published: 8:15am, 7 Apr 2023

There has been a significant uptick of late in discussion on the topic of artificial intelligence and the threats it poses. There are several reasons for the heightened discussion, even if the recent headlines have been grabbed by the exhortations of Tesla founder Elon Musk and others to pause training of AI systems more powerful than ChatGPT-4 for at least six months.

With the emergence of the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT – and alternatives like Jasper and YouChat – concerns have been raised about AI-generated images and the uncanny quality of the deepfakes, such as those of Pope Francis in a white Balenciaga puffer coat and of former US president Donald Trump in handcuffs.

When reality and fiction become indistinguishable in terms of images and sound, then we have a problem. This is because the power of such believable imagery and sound to affect and influence human opinion and behaviour is vast and the implications severe.

How will governments, institutions from banks to universities, and every sector that could be affected stay ahead of the curve in terms of identifying false imagery and documentation? Conversely, how can the public have faith that such capabilities might not also be used for political, financial or malign purposes by these same players?

In the academic domain, discussion is currently focused on ChatGPT and its use or non-use in universities, given that students could employ the technology to generate essays, for example. No consensus has yet emerged; there is a clear need for enforceable regulation across jurisdictions. It seems, though, that we are always playing catch-up with an AI ecosystem that is accelerating.

Perhaps in the future we will only be willing to trust images and sound generated via some uncrackable quantum code coupled with blockchain-like validity protocols, with everything else to be taken with a pinch of salt.