AI is making people ‘question their own reality’: Chelsea Manning

Artificial intelligence was once again on the agenda at the annual Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. On the closing day of the event, whistleblower and activist Chelsea Manning expressed her concerns about the development of artificial intelligence and the conflict between humans and technology.

“We live in an age where we are surrounded by technology,” Manning said. “I've had a lot of instances where there's a conflict between people and technology, and how technology interacts with each other, and institutions are part of that.”

Manning says her life was shaped by her exposure to the digital world.

“I let it drive how I integrate, how I look at technology and how I want to build a bigger and better future,” Manning said.

Manning questions the reasons behind the rapid growth of AI technology, who the technology will ultimately benefit from, and whether the push towards artificial intelligence is affecting everyday life.

“Are we simply forgetting the human body and commoditizing every interaction we have every day?” Manning said. “This product is doing something as simple as swiping on an app or clicking a cute little heart icon.”

Artificial intelligence and big languages ​​are what he calls modern lexical models, citing the vast amount of data these models are trained on, such as Wikipedia, textbooks, videos, and images.

Manning pointed out that unlike the files on the server, this information is included in the weights and scales of the model and cannot be easily deleted, which is contrary to the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and privacy rights, where individuals can request data deletion.

“I think the onus is on us as technologists to develop tools that take into account the fact that people should have some privacy, and that communications shouldn't be resources that can be mined and mined,” Manning said. I don't want to live in a world where our relationship is a numerical value.

In large language models, Manning warns, once a person's personal or private information is incorporated, it becomes a permanent part of the model, making it impossible to remove.

In the year In 2021, Manning joined Switzerland-based Nim Technologies as a security consultant and privacy attorney. Nym Technologies launched its privacy-focused project Nym, a decentralized identity platform, on the Cosmos Block in 2020.

“I think my focus is broadly and broadly on the importance of having some form of privacy — encryption or technical, technological means — and being able to use that sensibly,” Manning said. “It shouldn't be difficult, and it shouldn't be difficult to use.”

Manning also highlighted the rise and rise of AI-generated deep illusions.

“The issues that have caught my attention in the last six months are not the fact that people are using deep falsehoods in public discourse and discussion, but the fact that they can and do exist and are used to cast doubt on well-verified information,” Manning said. “I think this trend makes people question their own reality more.”

As deep lies become more prevalent, policymakers worry they could influence upcoming elections or fuel hate online. One solution Manning proposed is to use encryption to verify information.

Manning previously told Decrypt that Bitcoin appeals to her passion for encryption, data protection and building decentralized cryptographic networks.

“I know it's attractive to be able to say that I can choose my own reality, that I can choose what I like,” Manning said. “But the truth is that when the real material world is there, it will come to that.” And I think we can't pretend that's the case, especially when it comes to climate.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.