An article on the World Economic Forum (WEF) site has called for artificial intelligence technology to be used to shut down “hate speech” and “misinformation” on the internet.
The controversial lobbying group, most famous for popularising “The Great Reset” and the phrase “You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy,” hosted the idea on its website earlier this week entitled “The solution to online abuse? AI plus human intelligence.”
Meat will be a special treat. Read more: https://t.co/RiQP6tpkfp pic.twitter.com/7BcRHgnWTx
— World Economic Forum (@wef) April 9, 2018
“With 63% of the world’s population online, the internet is a mirror of society: it speaks all languages, contains every opinion and hosts a wide range of (sometimes unsavoury) individuals,” the new piece reads.
It says that “as the internet has evolved, so has the dark world of online harms,” and that traditional content moderation methods driven by human employees are now insufficient for tackling disinformation, hate speech, and even more serious offences like child abuse.
The author bewails the fact that problems like “the radicalisation of extreme opinions” and “the spread of misinformation” have been “enabled” by the internet.
“A more sophisticated approach is required,” they wrote.
“By uniquely combining the power of innovative technology, off-platform intelligence collection and the prowess of subject-matter experts who understand how threat actors operate, scaled detection of online abuse can reach near-perfect precision.”
However, some online users were dubious about the idea’s motives, raising free speech concerns.
“How should AI distinguish content?” said one user.
“Can’t really tell sarcasm or commentary, can it? Upload filters are a really bad idea!”
How should AI distinguish content? Can't really tell sarcasm or commentary, can it? Upload filters are a really bad idea!
— ExtremJulius (@ExtremJulius) August 11, 2022
“They want to censor anything that goes against their agenda,” said another.
“Hate speech is just an excuse. This is about silencing any opposition.”
Total control of the narrative
— StuffedCrustInTokyo (@peaceseazen) August 11, 2022
“More like automated censorship according to his one sided narrative,” said a third, referring to the WEF’s founder and head, Klaus Schwab.
https://twitter.com/athiskemonn/status/1557856640367353856