Peter Kirchschläger | Beware of Big Tech steering AI regulation

Last October, the European Commission adopted a new road map to fight drug trafficking and organised crime, one of the most serious security threats facing the bloc.

For obvious reasons, European Union policymakers did not invite cartel members to help design and develop this strategy; asking for input from criminal networks would have only made it easier for them to continue operating with impunity.

But when it comes to regulating the digital transformation and artificial intelligence, both of which pose myriad risks, policymakers are doing the opposite. They are collaborating with Big Tech companies such as Meta (Facebook), Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, even though their executives have demonstrated a brazen willingness to create dangerous tools and harm users in the name of maximising profits.

For example, national, regional, and international ‘working groups’, ‘expert groups’, and ‘advisory boards’ that include representatives from Big Tech companies are preparing proposals to regulate the digital transformation and AI. Beyond that, some initiatives and conferences on this topic are funded by the very companies those endeavours aim to regulate.

The threats posed by digital systems are complex and far-reaching. New technologies are dramatically widening global inequality, and tech giants have emerged as massive energy users, with serious implications for climate change and the environment. Perhaps most worrying are the near-constant violations of the right to privacy, owing to the lack of data security or protections against surveillance. It is standard industry practice for vast amounts of data to be collected and sold to the highest bidder. As a result, digital platforms seem to know us better than we know ourselves, and life online is awash in economic and political manipulation.

Moreover, algorithmic manipulation and disinformation have already been shown to threaten the proper functioning of democracy. Ahead of the 2016 presidential election in the United States, for example, the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica harvested information from as many as 87 million Facebook users in an attempt to sway voters. The company and its affiliates had already likewise misused data to try to influence the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote.

More recently, the rapid development of large-language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT has opened up new avenues for fraud, including through audio and visual deepfakes that can destroy reputations. LLMs have also facilitated the spread of fake news, a scourge that is most acutely felt in democracies, where a flood of AI-generated content threatens to drown out quality journalism and to destabilise entire countries within a few hours, as happened with the recent far-right riots in the UK. Moreover, the same strategies can be used to hoodwink consumers.

But that is not all: use of social media has been associated with significant mental health harms for young people. And many in the field have expressed concern about the disruptive impact that AI-enabled cyberattacks and autonomous weapons could have on international peace and security, not to mention the existential risks such weapons pose.

Big Tech firms have consistently shown little concern about harming people and violating their rights. That is especially true for social media companies, which generally earn more in advertising revenue the longer that users stay on their platforms. In 2021, a whistle-blower provided documents showing that Facebook knew that its algorithms and platforms promoted damaging content but failed to deploy meaningful countermeasures. That should come as no surprise: studies have found that users spend more time online when expressing hate, anger, and rage.

Despite its unwillingness to police itself, Big Tech wants to help devise regulations for the digital sphere and AI. Giving these companies a seat at the table is both ironic and tragic. Governments and the international community are allowing these behemoths to dominate the process of establishing a new global regulatory framework and oversight mechanisms. But entrusting those who profit from the sector’s fundamental problems is a dangerous mistake.

The good news is that there are plenty of independent experts and academics who can provide valuable input about how best to regulate the development and use of AI and other digital technologies. Of course, the private sector must be involved in such policymaking processes, but not more than other stakeholders, including civil society organisations.

Technological innovation should no longer serve only the interests of a few multinational corporations. To ensure a sustainable future in which everyone can lead dignified and prosperous lives, policymakers must not allow tech giants to steer the regulation of digital platforms and emerging AI applications.

Peter G. Kirchschläger, Professor of Ethics and Director of the Institute of Social Ethics at the University of Lucerne, is a visiting professor at ETH Zurich. © Project Syndicate 2024 www.project-syndicate.org