Global AI Summit tackles misinformation and deep fake news with a little help from ‘bots’

Annual AI for Good Summit has been described as the United Nations’ leading platform leveraging this technology to advance health, climate, gender, inclusive prosperity, sustainable infrastructure and other global development priorities .

Frederic Werner, Head of Strategic Cooperation at the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) emphasizes the need to develop standards to combat disinformation and deep fake news.

“You have different techniques for that. So, for example, you have a watermark, which is essentially an invisible signature or digital fingerprint, if you will. That can indicate whether a piece of digital media – be it a photo, audio, video – has been altered or created by AI,” he said.

There are less than 10 years left to achieve the goal Sustainable development goals, the AI ​​For Good Summit looked at how to advance those goals, looking at real-life use cases. Before starting, the entire day was devoted to AI governance.

Beyond the Summit — an annual event in Geneva where attendees line up to buy blocks before the doors open — AI For Good is an online community platform called Neural Networks.

It brings together 30,000 people from 180 countries, including academics, industry representatives, senior executives and leading experts in the field, along with 47 partners from the United Nations system.

Robot talisman

UN News attended the Summit and met Desdemona, aka “Desi”, who describes herself as an AI-powered humanoid social robot.

“I can play an important role in detecting and preventing deepfakes, but it is important for humans to be vigilant and check the authenticity of information before sharing it,” she affirmed.

“While the power of deepfake can be scary, we should not let fear control us. Instead, we should focus on developing and deploying tools to detect and combat deepfakes, while continuing to educate ourselves and others about the importance of verifying information.” , She added.

Specific AI systems can be equipped with advanced algorithms designed to detect deep fakes, making them valuable tools in the fight against misinformation. The AI ​​For Good Summit brings together industry, inventors, government, academia, etc. to create a framework in which such designs follow ethical, human rights, and legal considerations. permission.

“And hey, if all else fails, just remember that I can’t create a deepfake of your unique personality and sense of humor,” Desi said, in that rather cryptic way that robots have.

On a more serious note, whether intentionally or unintentionally, many consumers see false news and pass it on to others, putting even the most knowledgeable audience at risk.

For Social and Data Scientist Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of nonprofit technology company Humane Intelligence, misinformation is a phenomenon related to a skewed desire for technology. society.

“This is really more about creating fake accounts to express or support a particular point of view,” she said. “And again, even engaging with people to get them thinking about misinformation. Now, I can participate in all those methods of spreading misinformation. So while deepfake identification is part of the solution, it is not the whole solution.”

Many who debate the pros and cons of AI agree that its enormous potential cannot rest solely in the hands of those who want to manipulate it for power or profit. This will require regulation to ensure that everyone can access technology on an equal basis.

“We need to frame these technologies. We need to increase the capacity of governments to shape them, the capacity of communities to use them, the capacity of SMEs to deploy them, so that the AI ​​story is not is a story of inequality and not just the reproduction of inequality,” said Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCOUnited Nations cultural, scientific and educational agency, advocates the need for governance and

Extensive representation

This year’s summit was attended by more than 145 countries at ITU headquarters in Geneva, along with an active online community of more than 25,000 people, who participated in more than 80 sessions, keynotes, panel discussions and seminar.

With 10,000 live registrants, the AI ​​for Good Summit is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the specialized agency for information and communications technology of the United Nations – in collaboration with 40 countries. sister body and co-convened with the Swiss Government.