Purposeful Stories

February 2024

Truth in the time of

Generative AI

Not long ago, a Scottish football team had deployed an AI camera to live-stream their match against Ayr United. Until this point, it all sounded fancy and hi-tech. Shockingly though, the AI camera mistook the bald head of a linesman (side referee) for a football. Oops!

This happened for real as Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club was playing its match and the AI camera was instructed to follow the ball throughout the match. To everyone’s surprise, though, the camera started to pan towards the referee who was standing away from the real action. The bald head of a linesman confused the algorithm for a ball. Instead of watching the dribbles and dabs by their favourite football players, the spectators were shown the referee waving the flag for most of the time. Embarrassed, the football commentators had no option but to apologise for this foul-up. 

As much as we would like to see generative AI make progress and succeed by leaps and bounds to help human civilization in numerous ways, the risks and dangers involved in modern technology are also real. As we move forward, it is amply clear that the new technologies will continue to challenge us and change our outlook about our lifestyle and work. Some will experience anxiety attacks while thinking about the possible ‘apocalyptic’ scenarios in the near future.

This then brings our attention to some important questions: Is generative AI a boon to human civilization? Is this technological miracle a blessing; a game-changer? Or, will it make humans lazy? Does it threaten employment? Does it worry us about authenticity, data leakage, deep fakes, data privacy, intellectual property and copyright issues, creativity, and ethical and moral concerns as well?

The debate is getting intense by the minute. Here, in AI times, we have an insightful debate for you to consider…..

Zoom-In & Zoom-Out

Setting: Morning meeting (Zoom)

Theme: Should generative AI be used or stopped?

Creative Writer: Hello everyone! Let me make a bold confession: As a creative person, not even once have I used generative AI or ChatGPT for my work thus far. There is an urgent need for regulatory intervention critical to mitigating the risks involved.

Content Director: Well, I also do not use it very often. Sometimes though, I have tried to see what it can bring to the table. I see unimaginable possibilities there. ChatGPT is a prime example of generative AI. The manner in which this technology can unconventionally and autonomously generate and create new content (text, images, music etc) is unique and diverse. 

Writer: The creative person in me struggles to make peace with the idea that ‘it is all right to steal’ the idea of a machine for my work. I find this intellectually tricky, ethically wrong and morally challenging. As a writer, I’d feel embarrassed—even insulted—to make the machine do the thinking on my behalf.

Director: Point well taken. However, there are a lot of people who share a different point of view on the use of generative AI.

Contributor: Some of my colleagues have told me on record that they find the AI ChatGPT fascinating and occasionally benefit from this tool.

Director: The jury is out. Global business leaders continue to remain divided over the use or possible misuse of the technology. The technology is still in its formative phase. Generative AI models have their limitations, including “hallucinations”. One of the biggest challenges is how false information can be generated so easily. It is a new type of risk.

Writer: I concur. One view is to either regulate or stop it altogether to avoid a catastrophe like climate change or global warming. There are other anxieties related to deep fakes, concentration of power, limitations to self-regulation, misinformation and disinformation and so on and so forth. Additionally, there is a concern regarding who controls the technology right now! The powers that control AI are not not-for-profit organisations. 

Director: I get your point. On the other hand, another major contention is that to stop generative AI is to deny human progress. For us, the main question is how can our organisation benefit from the technology without compromising on ethics, morality, human creativity and intellectual property? I am sure it is not possible to find all the answers in today’s meeting. We can have another round of deliberation on this, beginning next week. What do you reckon? 

Keeping the above debate in mind, here are some questions for you: Where do you stand on this? Should generative AI be stopped altogether? Or, is there another side to this that can be explored? What is the path ahead? 

Moving on, one of the major concerns is the issue of disinformation and misinformation. The organisations that are controlling or regulating the AI are not aliens. It is an issue that should concern all of us. So, shouldn’t humans have a say in this matter? 

Another worry is unwanted state intervention and the urge to control and regulate everything related to new technology. India’s Ministry of Information and  Technology in its latest advisory, issued on 1 March 2024, has directed all platforms using generative AI or Large Language Models (LLMs) to seek government permission before deployment. The platforms have been advised to put an “under trial” or “under testing” label on their official websites. This advisory has sent alarm bells across India Inc.

After sharp criticism from some startups in the generative AI space, the Indian government issued a clarification, stating that its advisory does not apply to startups. Nevertheless, the worries about unprecedented government control have not completely vanished. Aravind Srinvias, founder of Perplexity AI, according to The Indian Express, described the government advisory a “bad move by India” while others like Martin Casado, general partner at the US-based investment firm Andreesen Horowitz, called the Indian government’s latest move a “travesty” and “anti-innovation.”

Meanwhile, a latest survey by Google and Ipsos has revealed that a majority of Indians believe that AI will positively change their lives in the next five years or so. In a survey “Our Life with AI: The reality of today and the promise of tomorrow”, more than 80 percent of about 1,000 Indian respondents (older than 18 years) anticipated unprecedented benefits from AI in areas such as jobs, healthcare, and power and ability to understand complex subjects. In stark contrast, the global average was only 54 percent. 

Be that as it may, here we list other major AI-linked concerns for you.

5 AI-linked Anxieties

Tata, Bye-Bye’ Java: According to Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), there is a concern regarding the future of IT jobs in light of AI expansion. Huang, while speaking in a recent economic forum at Stanford University, said that traditional coding languages such as Java or C may become less relevant as AI technology spreads and matures with time.

1

Work Landscape Will Never Be the Same Again: According to famed author and speaker, Bernard Marr, generative AI will transform the landscape of work and change many jobs in 2024. As generative AI becomes more sophisticated, jobs which until now were considered the exclusive domain of human creativity will be taken care of by the new technology. Generative AI, as we understand, involves algorithms that can generate new and original content, ranging from texts to images, videos and beyond.

2

Legal Risks & Copyrights: There is a grave legal risk that looms over the field of generative AI. Whether it is poetry generated from GPT-4 or usage of copyrighted content, many academics, authors, journalists and poets around the globe could take the legal route to protect intellectual property.

3

Future Tense: Generative AI is influencing the way we work. Those working for business houses understand the power of technology in ensuring effective collaboration and how this is leading to a more connected global workforce. However, there is a concern about what the future holds for all of us as technology advances further. How to thrive in this AI-driven era is a big question for many. Will updating skill sets and keeping abreast with generative AI be good enough?

4

Deepfakes Impacting Electoral Battles: AI-generated content has the potential to impersonate anyone with alarming accuracy, setting alarm bells during electoral campaigns in democracies around the globe. Indian voters are all set to vote in the forthcoming parliamentary elections soon. The rapid rise of a technology known as Deepfakes can be used for political manipulation. This poses a serious threat to public discourse, electoral campaigns and democratic processes.

5

Moreover, what about a growing perception that generative AI could pose a serious challenge to the human brain? Is it really so? Many in the Communications industry are worried about their future, fearing that generative A.I. could ruin livelihoods. Some anxieties about unprecedented technological intervention are not unfounded. Worryingly, AI has also raised concerns about its power to mislead, misinform, distort and confuse the masses. 

On a positive note, though, others argue that the human brain will continue having an edge over the machine for AI’s lack of creativity. In a recent positive development, the incarcerated former Prime Minister of Pakistan and global cricketing icon Imran Khan’s AI-generated video speeches present an example of how technology can work wonders and circumvent state suppression. During the recently held general elections in Khan’s country, global watchdogs voiced concern about alleged rigging and stifling free speech, especially on social media. Khan’s supporters confronted the ban on X platform by using VPN and telegraphing the leader’s AI-generated speeches to motivate the voters to cast their ballot in large numbers.

Fiction, Fact & Fun

The Wild Wild(W)est World

Artificial Intelligence in pop culture has been a game changer, especially in the realm of how we perceive reality. But where do we draw the line? Or, is there a need to draw one?

During the bone-chilling January, I was seeing far too much of pop singer Taylor Swift on my social media timeline and news feed. She featured in anything and everything, ranging from her US economy-boosting Eras Tour to her hyper-public romance with NFL athlete, Travis Kelce. Did she step out for dinner? Did she feature too much on the stadium screen during her boyfriend’s football match? Everything about her was making headlines. Did she sneeze? That too might have hit the headline!

But hey, I am not going to hate on her just because she’s a pop culture maverick beyond my understanding. To loosely quote Star Wars, there is always a Dark Side to the Light. And this got dark pretty fast and dare I add, cruelly too. Legions of haters --most of whom were ‘classical’ football fans -- were having none of it.

Thanks to generative AI, a day arrived when Swift was trending on X for rather sinister reasons. NSFW images depicting the pop star in sexually compromising situations went viral. Did it matter that there wasn’t an ounce of truth in the disseminated images? No, voyeurism is a uniquely human trait.

Thankfully, though, what is also a uniquely human trait is the discomfort of witnessing something objectively wrong. Legions of her fans, billion-strong around the globe, also took to AI, and extracted images of Taylor doing mundane, routine chores and fabulous things. Now, when you Google “Taylor Swift AI images”, you are likely to find the PG-13 images. The trolling debacle, combined with Swift’s singular star power also meant that the threat of AI, and its implication on pop culture narratives, got a mention in the White House. Now, laws around the use of generative AI and privacy are the focal points of conversation. In today’s world, the use of technology is power.

It’s not just celebrities feeling the AI heat. Renowned German photographer Boris Eldagsen’s award-winning “The Electrician”, turned out to be an AI creation. The incident rocked the photography world, questioning the very definition of the medium. The viral photo of Pope Francis ‘lit’puffer jacket also wasn’t a candid paparazzi shot, but an expert AI fabrication.

The lines are blurring faster than one can say “Westworld”, the HBO mega series that delved deep into this haziness and what that meant for how we define “being human”.

The show’s reality feels eerily prescient now. The implications of the growing democratisation and access to AI tech are, indeed, vast. But I am here to tell you that the future is not all that bleak, after all.

From a pop culture perspective, the ability to re-create Kesariya from Brahmastra (2022) in Kishore Kumar or Mohammad Rafi’s voice, or to watch the 9-hour long Lord of the Rings Trilogy on your mobile phone, in portrait mode, adds angles and layers to the narrative. If used smartly, and for the greater good of (quality) entertainment, generative AI has the power to empower everyone with as basic as a mobile device to find many reasons to laugh and grin as per the individual choice.

I, for one, find it cool when I ask a ChatGPT to give me a joke and I get 20 in a trice. Or, when I ask Bard (now called Gemini) to give me pointers for a Bollywood Film Quiz and I get the script for an hour-long programme at my fingertips. It gives me the power to do more with my time and have fun while doing so.

Curious, this piece might have been generated on Gemini too! Does it matter so long as you are having fun reading it? Code (read: food) for thought…Cinema has existed in India for over a century now. Storytelling has always remained a foundational part of India’s culture and the power of its citizens has often taken center stage in some of the best movies. Even in power packed action movies like Sholay, which are arguably meant to celebrate a gun slinging duo of heroes, the message that was telegraphed was precisely this: What happens when your State fails you? Can the course of justice be taken on by the people? 

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Podcast

School of Purpose: Episode 11

Storytelling in the Era of A.I.

Dive into the fascinating world of Artificial Intelligence on the latest episode of "School of Purpose"! Join us for a candid conversation with Gnothi Seauton's Director of Content, Poorva Joshi, as we explore how AI influences the nuanced art of storytelling. Uncover its critical impact on crafting original narratives, touching on movies, memes, and millennial tales. And why empathy and humanity remain irreplaceable in this digital age. Don't miss out on this friendly banter that's both insightful and entertaining!