Author: TJ Ravishankar

The global media is awash with talk of responsible AI and governments are formulating guidelines for ‘ethical use of AI’ but I have chosen to write on (the need for) responsible media, as so much of coverage is steeped in ignorance and hype.

Should we be surprised at the power of GenAI to deceive? As a growing body of serious research is trying to find convincing answers, it also show how important the role of mainstream and specialized media is, as vehicles of communication.

The fascination with and growing business in AI brings fortunes for copper and rare metals (with ominous geopolitical repercussions) as well as data centres, without which nothing in IT and software is possible. While one part of the world is in raptures over something called AI, another part is merrily cashing in on emerging business opportunities.

Distinguished computer scientists demystify GenAI models showing that they are based on mathematics and a methodology of capturing and storing different kinds of information. Notwithstanding all the scaremongering, what has been fantasised by science fiction about intelligence other than human remains just that: fiction. The real threat continues to be from human beings misusing the confluence of the commercialization of the internet, wireless technology, electronics & sensors, software systems which has accelerated what was always inherent in technology per se: the power to manipulate.