[ExI] The Problem With Counterfeit People

[BillK]

New article by Daniel C. Dennett    May 16, 2023.

The Problem With Counterfeit People
Companies using AI to generate fake people are committing an immoral
act of vandalism, and should be held liable.

<https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/05/problem-counterfeit-people/674075/>
Quotes:
Today, for the first time in history, thanks to artificial
intelligence, it is possible for anybody to make counterfeit people
who can pass for real in many of the new digital environments we have
created. These counterfeit people are the most dangerous artifacts in
human history, capable of destroying not just economies but human
freedom itself.

Creating counterfeit digital people risks destroying our civilization.
Democracy depends on the informed (not misinformed) consent of the
governed. By allowing the most economically and politically powerful
people, corporations, and governments to control our attention, these
systems will control us.

The key design innovation in the technology that makes losing control
of these systems a real possibility is that, unlike nuclear bombs,
these weapons can reproduce. Evolution is not restricted to living
organisms, as Richard Dawkins demonstrated in 1976 in The Selfish
Gene. Counterfeit people are already beginning to manipulate us into
midwiving their progeny. They will learn from one another, and those
that are the smartest, the fittest, will not just survive; they will
multiply.
--------------------

These AIs pretending to be people could become the Great Persuaders of
the internet.
They are not just amusing toys for us to play with.

BillK