As the World Economic Forum’s Davos 2024 kicked off, multiple panels were fixated on one dangerous technology: artificial intelligence.
During the first full day of panels and speeches at Davos 2024, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) experts from around the world displayed a fascination with artificial intelligence (AI). While some tech experts warned last year that AI could turn into a major threat, including for free speech, WEF elites can now hardly wait for AI to transform society. From fearmongering about “misinformation,” a term used to justify censorship, to calls for government regulation, WEF is already pushing for top-down control of AI and its content.
During the panel “AI: The Great Equaliser?” United Nations (UN) Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill specifically called for “good governance” to “address some of the misuses” such as “misinformation, [and] disinformation.” He acknowledged that governments or private companies could use AI for surveillance and impact users’ freedoms. But he did not acknowledge the already existing threat to freedom of governments targeting alleged “misinformation.” In America, the federal government worked to quash free speech while labeling it “misinformation.” WEF recently released a report naming misinformation and disinformation as among the top global risks.
Big Tech is rushing to develop AI, and that was apparent at Davos. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, during his one-on-one discussion with WEF head Klaus Schwab, excitedly asserted that science is accelerating with generative AI. “Up to now, the digitization revolution has brought new tools to science, but it has not fundamentally accelerated science,” he said. He suggested AI as a solution for curing diseases like cancer, “the energy transition,” and science, for a “profound” change. Microsoft has a track record of anti-free speech activity through its LinkedIn platform and Bing search engine, raising concerns that the company could weaponize AI for censorship too.
Meanwhile, during a panel claiming that AI could be the vehicle of the so-called “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Accenture CEO Julie Sweet argued that AI is in every industry already, thus impacting every area of society. “Actually, every industry has leaders who are working very quickly in it,” Sweet said. “There’s not an industry that’s not going to be impacted,” she added. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna agreed, claiming AI will produce “$4 trillion of annual productivity before the end of the decade.” He discussed different jobs that will be changed by AI, including customer service and coding.
United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Sultan Al Olama had perhaps the most concerning comment in that session. He insisted his government supports a “proactive regulation” of AI. While some regulation is to be expected, significant proactive regulation could create a dangerous situation for digital freedom. The Chinese Communist government already demanded that AI uphold “socialist values”. In America, the federal government has actively worked to crush free speech on social media platforms and will almost certainly carry over its work to AI.
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