Dr I John Mohan Razu
Professor of Social Ethics
We live in a world of technological and digitalisation revolution. The world we live-in is witnessing stupendous changes that are happening in such manner we could hardly imagine and thought of. At the same time, these transformative changes in one way or other keep affecting people who are not part of these changes. The proponents of AI keep welcoming these changes as part of the technologization and digitalization process in which our children and grandchildren will be living. At the same time there are takers who have become part and parcel of these changes and at the same time there are those who have been distanced in the process.
For the last few years, we have been hearing and witnessing a lot about AI. What is happening in some areas in advanced countries like Japan and the United States AI seemed to have penetrated into some domains creating ripples with awe and welcome signs. For them, innovations and creation of new appliances and applications show the levels of growth and development. Their measuring rod is always how much and how far these developments taken their societies. Scientific innovations and technological developments should result in the forms of utilities and be translated in their day-to-affairs so that those who control science and develop would prosper and keep making more moneys.
Pope Leo the XIV has released very recently his major teaching document (an encyclical) in which he warned that AI must be” disarmed”. Reference to armed and disarmed is militaristic terms, but Pope Leo used it with regard to AI presupposes that AI is now used as a weapon against those countries that are underdeveloped and developing. And so, it is nothing, but a mentality of “armed competition” between those highly developed countries and this hegemony attacking other countries that are backward and yet to take-off. Development per se has reached another tangent in ‘taking-off ‘ in the arena of AI.
What Pepe Leo suggests that people ought to be freed from the clutches and captivity of AI. He sees and foresees that in the near future AI could show its dominance in all spheres of human activities and life per se. He issues caution to the global comity of nations and people that not to weigh AI lightly, but asks people to take AI seriously and thus plan for regulations and thus evolve ethical criteria to measure qualitatively and quantitively the issues that AI is proposing and thus posing for the weaker nation-states as well as others.
The mega tech corporations are in the fray of competing with each because AI is the present and the future reality and is in our midst. Global capitalism and neo-colonisation enjoined together have pushed the capitalist economic order to another phase/level where innovations and control go hand-in-hand. Whoever controls capital can take over economy and once economic power is taken it is obvious that political power can be dictated and controlled. In this new equation those who control AI thus obviously dominate the global affairs including politics. This is what one should be careful of AI as it will pervade into all sectors thereby consolidating power and authority.
In such a context, Pope Leo issues a clarion call that there should be robust global regulation and rigorous ethical constraints. Pope dismisses that AI cannot be equated with the human intelligence because it is human-created, a machine, and tool and so lacks empathy and sensibilities. This is why it is called as “artificial” and not ‘human intelligence’. Separation between “Artificial Intelligence” and “Human Intelligence” should be seen as two separated categories and never to be mixed.
Any innovation ought to serve the common good, rather than serving the mammon and corporate power. Neo-colonialism and empire-building forces are gradually control countries with neo-colonialist tools such as AI. As years go by, we would see the growing neo-colonial slavery amongst those countries that unable to catch-up because big corporations and highly advanced countries keep investing billions of dollars on AI. If this happens and become true where would the marginalised communities and lower income countries go. So it is obvious that those countries unable to cope up apparently become slaves—a new form of slavery.
In such a complex scenario we should have the discerning capacity and capability—to discern between right and wrong, good and bad. Since it involves ethics those who are keen to bring AI under regulation should evolve ethical parameters and guidelines. AI should be brought under a broad framework of ethics which would to regulate its activities and profits. For this we need toemploy critical mind and creative lens to evaluate AI in totality. Capitalism always believes in the exploitation of labour and resources. It is an innovative tool back by a powerful system that is interested in maximising the profits without any consideration be it whatever the means and ends.
We should be vigilant and open to scrutinise the information because the world we live is filled with all sorts of misinformation and fake narratives. In this process human autonomy gets dissipated and diluted and eventually leading to total chaos. Neo-colonial forces and empire builders believe in employing newer controlling mechanisms and one of them is AI which has now become the handy tool and weapon. The West and the former empires and colonisers want to bring former colonies and other countries that are poor and developing under their control. For this AI has become a convenient controlling mechanisms.
