AI is incredible but could 'kill us all': Grok issues show genie is out of the bottle

“I’m increasingly inclined to think that there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level, just to make sure that we don’t do something very foolish.”

Those are the words of Elon Musk just 10 years ago on the development of artificial intelligence (AI). How things change. This week his own AI platform, Grok, has been in the news due to people using it to create inappropriate images of women on social platform X. Very foolish indeed. 

The threat of tough regulation from countries such as the UK has followed and Musk has backtracked from his initial 'freedom of expression' refusals to now accept restrictions in certain geographies. It's an attempt to put the AI photo-editing genie back into its box but the fear is it's all coming a bit too late. Another large bump in the road of the AI revolution.

What did we learn from this debacle? Firstly, opening everything up to everyone will mean bad things happen. We all know this. There are plenty of bad eggs out there who will use tools to the detriment of others, whether for humiliation or personal gain. There are laws, controls and regulations across all industries for a reason, and AI and social media platforms can't be immune from this. Secondly, this technology is developing faster than the average person can keep up with. We're already at the point of questioning what is and isn't real. The victim to the Grok trolls felt violated because the images felt personal, even though they knew they were fabricated.

We can't escape AI. It is as transformational as when the internet was launched - and possibly more so. It is changing our daily lives whether we are noticing it or not. Workplaces, the job market, medical advancements, transport systems, education... the list of what is changing seems infinite and advancements are said to be on the way.

What we can do is not dive in but take a breath, think responsibly and learn from the mistakes made in the past with technology such as the internet and social media, which has been - and continues to go - through many regulatory changes. For example, we have learned lessons from exposing children to social media at too early an age, particularly around mental health. What will be the impact of exposing still-developing brains to AI? That live experiment is now well under way.

At Gulf News, we're still getting to grips with the best way to use some of the most powerful tools ever created. There's no training manual and we are learning on the job just like everyone else. We will be open about what we are doing. We actively use it to speed up work, to simplify some of the more rudimentary tasks in the newsroom and to help with such things as translations and rewrites of send-in content. We've recently rolled out guidelines on how to use AI in our teams to ensure we are all joined up. Here's a direct quote from part of the document that sums up our policy: 'Quality journalism at Gulf News requires human judgment, responsibility and creativity. AI is a tool to support that mission, not to override it'. We're sure to make mistakes along the way as we all get to grips with how best to use it for journalism but it’s vital that great brands like Gulf News continue to deliver trusted, verified news created by humans who live and work in the places they report on. 

I'm an optimistic over-thinker (a bit of a paradox), so I do think AI has many positives but then I also think of the worst-case scenarios. While dreaming of being driven into the office while my AI assistant orchestrates by diary and emails, I also think about the warning from Sam Altman, of OpenAI fame. He openly said that his creation could kill us all at some point, which you'd think would be a showstopper in the business plan. 

Following on from last week, I’m delighted to say my son found a great football team and they won their first game together. Sweat-soaked friends celebrating with each in the sunshine - now there’s something that AI can never replace.