Generative AI's Value

Generative AI is artificial intelligence that creates content due to a prompt. Content may be text, images, videos, and more. Generative AI analyzes patterns from data sets and creates new content that is similar to or a derivation of the original data.

Concerns about AI misuse include copyright issues, image and video manipulation, and cyber crime potential. AI-generated audio misled a community into believing a local school Principal made racist remarks. The damage to the Principal's reputation can never be measured, even though the audio was eventually deemed a fraud.

Some believe that Generative AI may lead to a mass loss of human jobs. AI may be able to perform many jobs, but the extent to which AI technology replaces humans is yet to be determined. Others state that AI creates more jobs than it replaces. Only time will tell us which of these positions is true.

Training bias is another legitimate concern of consumers. Training bias occurs when an AI training dataset uses materials with an inherent bias. A dataset including only males as athletes would generate biased images excluding the depiction of females as athletes. A computer programming term describes this problem. "Garbage in, Garbage out". In other words, the input determines the output. Training bias is a concern since AI is often used to create News articles.

The dark side of AI technology poses many moral and ethical quandaries. Like many new technologies, guidelines for the safe use of AI have developed in response to its use. Cybercriminals exploit AI to create realistic phishing sites, deep fake audio and video, and circumvent privacy safeguards. AI-generated fake product reviews skew sales and product listings.

Governments around the world are scrambling to address concerns relating to AI. Several countries are considering disclosure laws for AI content, while others already have regulations. AI-generated news anchors have been used in several countries, encouraging concerns about human job losses, trustability, and bias. A recent study shows that roughly half of all people are uncomfortable with AI-generated news, even when monitored by humans.

Generative AI, like most technology, can be used productively or nefariously. The value of Generative AI will ultimately be based on the benefit derived by its users.