The world’s most famous artificial intelligence arbiter is unsure whether new technology poses a danger to people in the Middle East.
“Reports and concerns have been raised about human rights abuses involving the use of digital technology in Saudi Arabia,” said ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence language model that has made international headlines since its introduction last November, according to DW. In response to a journalist’s question: It can cause problems in the Middle East. However, the robot assistant added, “It is important to note that these reports and allegations are not specifically limited to artificial intelligence, but encompass a wider range of digital technologies and their potential abuses.” rice field.
Recent high-profile cases involving Saudi Arabia include the country’s use of digital technology to spy on dissidents and their families abroad and the use of anonymous accounts to identify government opponents. including attempts to infiltrate Twitter.
This has raised concerns about how the government will respond to the increasingly rapid deployment of artificial intelligence (AI). The impact of this technology is already regularly questioned by digital rights activists.
“The use of so-called AI and AI-based systems is increasing around the world, opening up new ways to monitor and manipulate people, potentially violating their most basic rights. ,” said Angela Mueller, policy and advocacy officer. She told DW at the Berlin-based organization Algorithm Watch. “There is no question that the use of AI-based systems, especially in the case of such states, risks exacerbating existing injustices,” she said. [without human rights protections or rule of law] It’s now driving billions of dollars in AI development and use,” she noted.
People who are investing heavily in AI
Governments of wealthy Gulf oil-producing countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are now spending as much or more than some European countries on domestic AI-related technological advances, according to the latest market information. are doing.
The Middle East will spend $3 billion (€2.8 billion) on AI this year, rising to $6.4 billion by 2026, according to a report on global AI spending by International Data Corporation. The region is expected to grow its spending on this technology by almost 30% annually over the next three years. They point out that this is “the fastest growth rate in the world in the next few years.”
The term AI, though highly hyped, covers a wide range of digital technologies. That means everything from quickly processing large amounts of digital data for analysis to what is known as “generative AI.” The latter includes ChatGPT, which has received much attention and much discussion, and is considered one of the most exciting developments in AI, as it “generates” information and insights as it evolves.
“The more computing power, more data and more users, the better. [generative AI] Sometimes it works in unexpected ways,” a Deutsche Bank research analyst explained at a technology briefing. “Its capabilities range from sifting through data to recognize images and sounds, to identifying sentiment across documents to generate text, images and code. Most importantly, these tools are synthesized in such a way that they can nourish each other.”
Preferred Gulf Strategy
Gulf countries are investing heavily in AI because it is a key part of their future plans to develop their national economies from oil revenues.
The UAE became the first country in the region to adopt a national AI strategy in 2017 and the first country in the world to appoint a minister in charge of artificial intelligence. Other countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have since followed suit, most of them in the last three years.
Of particular note to Saudi Arabia is that it intends to use AI of all kinds in its futuristic city building project, Neom, and has access to these technologies through both state funding and state-controlled sovereign wealth funds. It’s about having wealth that you can invest in.
Perceptions of AI in the Gulf countries are also different. The 2022 IPSOS Survey on International Attitudes towards AI asked whether they believe the benefits of using AI in consumer products and services outweigh the drawbacks. Just over three-quarters of Saudis were enthusiastic and agreed there would be more benefits, while only 37% of German respondents were more cautious.
How is AI used?
Gulf countries are now using AI technology for the same applications as other countries. For example, as a chatbot on his website for a retailer, or streamlining state services for power and water, or enhancing digital financial services such as web-based banking. , analyze the performance of companies such as Emirates, or provide insights from local medical data. In late May, the UAE released its own version of his ChatGPT.
None of these are necessarily malicious. But the same concerns expressed elsewhere about the use of AI apply here.
Digital rights activists aren’t really worried about the sci-fi scenario of robots killing us all. They are more concerned about data security, surveillance, content filtering, targeted dissemination of propaganda, the accuracy and bias of AI analysis, and the potential for “dual use” of certain AI-related technologies.
For example, AI-powered facial recognition could have both civilian and military uses. On the one hand, Facebook is useful for finding friends. On the other hand, it could be used to identify participants in anti-government demonstrations.
Jeffrey Hinton, a respected AI pioneer who recently left Google to make international headlines, told The New York Times: [AI] against bad things. “
villain and dictator
So what happens when AI falls into the hands of autocratic governments such as the Gulf states, which are spending heavily? There may be some democratic traps in these countries, but by nature is headed by the royal family and has little tolerance for dissent or political opposition.
“In countries where authorities already target human rights activists and journalists for peacefully exercising their rights, the impact [of AI] It could be even more devastating,” Ivana McGowan, director of the European office of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), told DW.
In a 2022 summary of current AI laws in the Middle East, researchers at multinational law firm Covington & Burling noted that the region does not yet have AI laws. This also applies to many other jurisdictions, they added. This sector is largely unregulated.
Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have published ethical guidelines regarding the use of AI. However, both national guidelines contain checklists of “do’s” and “don’ts” for software developers and are not legally binding. This is in common with ethical guidelines for AI that have been heavily criticized elsewhere.
Australian digital culture researcher Luke Mann wrote in the magazine AI and Ethics last year that “AI’s ethical principles are useless and meaningfully mitigate the racial, social and environmental harm caused by AI technology.” No,” he claimed. Part of the reason, he writes, is the lack of legislation supporting ethical guidelines. “The result is a gap between lofty principles and technical practice.”
CDT Director McGowan agreed. “Voluntary action in a situation of systematic repression like this is nothing more than window dressing,” she told DW.
“These systems open up new ways of potentially violating people’s most basic rights by monitoring or manipulating them, or by preventing them from speaking out or means of self-defense. It opens,” Algorithm Watch’s Mueller concluded. “The combination of opacity, sensitive areas, and potential impacts of these is particularly problematic in the absence of credible protection of human rights and the rule of law.”
