Zuckerberg and Musk promise freedom, but their AI deregulation is damaging
Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg want to free AI development from rules. However, this does not lead to more freedom, but to arbitrariness, warns Gregor Honsel.
(Image: J.K2507 / Shutterstock.com / Bearbeitung heise online)
Don't fall for them! In fact, "tech bros" only have a problem with rules if they don't come from themselves. Elon Musk, for example, talks a lot about freedom of expression, but doesn't shirk from tinkering with algorithms to boost his ego or silence critics.
If the maga-mongers succeed in making short work of state supervision, this would mean that No longer a democratically elected government setting the rules, but a clique of confused billionaires. And their rule will be harsh, opaque and merciless.
Code is law
The key phrase here is "code is law": programs and algorithms have a quasi-legislative power. Internet activist Lawrence Lessig popularized this idea before the turn of the millennium. At that time, the phenomenon was still largely limited to the online world. Today, algorithms intervene in practically all areas of our lives, from job searches and lending to the payment of social benefits.
At the same time, machine decisions are becoming increasingly opaque. Not even their creators know what an AI was thinking when it made its decisions. Even with a lot of good will, it is therefore hardly possible to impregnate algorithms against unfair tendencies. And even with the best will in the world, Musk and his cohorts do not currently have much goodwill. In addition to the implicit bias, there is also the risk of arbitrary "ordres du mufti".
Digital dictatorships
Democracy is a finely balanced system of forces and counter-forces, power and control. You can interfere, raise objections, demand accountability. There are good reasons why the EU demands in its AI Act that decisions made by algorithms must be comprehensible. Otherwise, there is no way to defend oneself against them. The operators of unregulated digital platforms, on the other hand, are legislators, policemen, prosecutors and judges all rolled into one. In other words: dictators.
No, the libertarian campaign against state regulation will not bring more freedom. But a new, much more bitter form of unfreedom.
This article first appeared on t3n.de .
(mho)
