To what extent is our 'digital space' controlled either by big corporations (as in Big Tech and Silicon Valley) or by big government (as in China/Russia/Turkey/Saudi Arabia)?
We debate the need for a European public space as an important element of democracy and announce a new initiative: The Council for European Public Space.
Peter Pomerantsev: How We Connect in the Public Digital Space - YouTube
This is from the 'council for European public space':
Council for European Public Space – European Cultural Foundation
One of the speakers is Matthias Pfeffer - Founding Director of The Council for European Public Space. He has an impressive record:
Together with Paul Nemitz, he published Prinzip Mensch, Macht Freiheit und Demokratie im Zeitalter der Künstlichen Intelligenz (The Human Imperative, Power, Freedom and Democracy in the Age of AI). The book was nominated on the shortlist of The Political Book of the Year 2020 in Germany.
His new book Human Thinking and Artificial Intelligence, A call for Thinking was published in October 2021. He wrote Determining our Technological and Democratic Future. A Wish List, in: Regulating Big Tech: Policy Responses to Digital Dominance, Martin Moore and Damian Tambini, Oxford University Press, 2022(together with Paul Nemitz), and The Power of Algorithms and the Structural Change of the Digital Public Sphere, in: Quadflieg, Neuburg: (Dis)Obedience in Digital Societies on the Power of Algorithms and Data, 2021.
Pfeffer was Visiting Professor at the University of Bergamo in May 2022 in the Departement Letters, Philosophy, Communication on the topic Epistemology of Artificial Intelligence and lecturer at the Technische Universität München in Summer 2023 on "Digitalization and Democracy."
Matthias Pfeffer | 'Università degli Studi di Bergamo (University of Bergamo) - Academia.edu
As his colleague says, one of the biggest challenges for democracy is 'controlling technological power':
Will artificial intelligence replace journalists? Does it endanger democracy? How can AI be regulated without curbing the innovations it might bring for the good of all? We talk to Paul Nemitz, senior advisor to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and professor of law at the College of Europe.
Paul is considered one of Europe's most respected experts on digital freedom. He led the work on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and is the author, with Matthias Pfeffer, of "The Human Imperative – Power, Democracy and Freedom in the Age of Artificial Intelligence", an essay on the impact of new technologies on individual liberties and society.
Live | AI, media and democracy: how to square the circle? – VoxEurop
Paul Nemitz: ‘We cannot leave AI to self-regulation and ethics alone’ - VoxEurop
Matthias Pfeffer talks about the struggle between the state and corporations - and gives the example of how chatbots are 'hacking the language' - because what you get out of Chat GPT prompts have no sources or links. "These machines are not transparent" in how they work; "these technologies are very helpful for autocrats\" because it's about the volume and not quality of content:
Peter Pomerantsev: How We Connect in the Public Digital Space - YouTube
As his colleague Francesca Bria on the panel says, the founder of the company behind Chat GPT calls it Open AI - but it's hardly 'open':
And the IT insiders have been saying that for some time now:
ChatGPT: Dangerous lack of transparency and informed consent - Community - OpenAI Developer Forum
ChatGPT's Work Lacks Transparency and That Is a Problem | RAND
After the chatbot became public, many have been wondering whether Chat GPT is open-source. Unfortunately, Chat GPT isn't. The language model, GPT-3.5, that the AI bot was built upon is also not open source. In other words, you cannot access or modify the model's source code.
Is ChatGPT open source? - PC Guide
Trying to control AI will be difficult - but we need to be aware of the dangers of Chat GPT:
Exploring the risks and alternatives of ChatGPT: Paving a path to trustworthy AI
Instead, as Francesca Bria says:
The European Union is in the middle of crucial negotiations over the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, whose outcome will signal whether the Act sets a new global standard for progressive AI regulation, with stringent rules on high-risk AI applications, mandatory transparency, and the protection of fundamental rights. Alternatively, there is a risk that the Act may yield to pressures from large AI corporations, reducing it to a mere voluntary code of conduct, which could exacerbate existing power disparities and the adverse effects of AI.
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