DAI#37 – The Tale of Bloodthirsty Bots, Audio Illusions, and AI’s Enigmatic Enigmas
“DAI#37 – Slaughter bots, fake audio, and mysterious AI”
“The State-sponsored ‘Slaughterbots’ are autonomous drones loaded with explosives and facial recognition technology intended to hone in on its programmed target.” This rather cinematic premise might seem like something right out of a dystopian sci-fi thriller, but the scarier part is that it is incredibly real, at least according to DailyAI’s alarmed reporting.
Apparently, it isn’t just Amazon that has a thing for drones. State entities, toeing the line of ‘it’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you’, are apparently investing in a whole flock of these buzzing death birds. These aren’t your average delivery drones though, oh no, they come equipped with a little doom-and-gloom package: facial recognition technology plus explosives. All they need is a pre-programmed face, and off they happily fly to deliver their explosive greetings.
The plot thickens further with the equally creepy rise of deepfake audio. Imagine sitting down for a cosy chat with your favourite celebrity or world leader, unaware that their dulcet tones are coming courtesy of AI algorithms, rather than the person in question. Seamless? Absolutely. Disturbing? Definitely.
These mysterious AI algorithms are able to recreate someone’s voice down to the most minute inflection or vocal quirk, according to the article. On the plus side, maybe that means never having to suffer through a boring conference call again. Just get your AI-generated self to fill in. On the disturbingly darker side, it could be used nefariously, making your digital self say things you never have, or never would.
So what’s the takeaway here? Tech advancements, in the form of explosive-laden robotic drones and eerily accurate fake audio, are no longer stuff of the future or the next Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster. They’re here, they’re real, and boy, do they know how to create an uproar.
To paraphrase a well-worn saying in the tech world – ‘With great power comes great potential for misuse.’ And the responsibility to manage this power, control its misuse, and navigate the challenging ethical paths it presents, now rests firmly on the shoulders of the tech industry, legal entities and governing bodies across the world. Can they keep up with Artificial Intelligence rewriting the rules of the game, is the million-dollar question, the answer to which we anxiously wait.